Why the Two of Us Should Never Touch
by Halawen
Summary: One drunken night to forget Eli brings her to Owen & now she's trying to forget that night & Owen but it hasn't been easy. At least until she begins dating Fitz. Eli & Owen seem to be distant memories, until that is her night with Owen comes out in a way she never expected. What will she do now? What will Owen do? And where will Fitz fit in now? Clowen & Flare. Please read A/Ns.
1. Everything Means Nothing

**Welcome to Short Story Month! We're kicking it off with a brand new story which is dedicated to Christlove88 because she put in the request a while ago.**

 **Legal: I do not own and am not associated with DeGrassi or Epitome. This story is for entertainment purposes only.**

 **Important things to know before reading:**

 ***Begins the night of the EClare breakup in Ray of Light**

 ***Fitz still works at The Dot he never left**

 ***Because this is a short story and not a long story there will be some time jumps, not major ones just a couple months at most**

 ***Clare will not get cancer and Adam will not die and there is no Paris trip in this story so Alli never meets Leo**

 **The rest is explained in the story so I hope you enjoy!**

 **Ch. 1 Everything Means Nothings & Tonight Everything Is Mine**

 **(CLARE)  
**

"I know you," Owen slurs as he stumbles over to me. "You're…you're…you're purdy," Owen laughs when he can't remember my name. It makes me laugh so hard I snort and then we laugh harder.

"You're so so hot yourself," I giggle trying to lean on him and only end up spilling my drink. "Whoopsies I shhpilled my wee drinkie," I laugh.

"I'll get you another wee drinkie purdy girl," Owen says.

"I think I maybe, might've possibly had enuffs drinkies. I thinks we want to not be ssssssstanding."

"I know where you can lie down purdy girl," he comments kneeling down and picking me up with one arm around my legs and I squeal. "I know this place like the back of my head," Owen remarks and I giggle running my hands through the hair at the back of his head.

Owen takes me to a bedroom, closes the door and puts me on the bed. He lies down next to me, my hand grips the back of his neck and our lips attach. If I wasn't totally drunk and had any sense right now I wouldn't be kissing a drunk Owen, at a party thrown by a kid I've never met before. But I am completely drunk and I don't have any sense right now and Owen's lips feel good in my drunken state.

Events that brought me here started a few nights ago with Eli going to a rave and taking drugs and then finding Cam's body. He lost it and we broke up, it was brutal and I was very hurt, so when some kid told me there was a party I came to escape reality for a short time. I came, I drank, I'm kissing Owen. It's been a hell of a night.

I can only assume Owen is here drinking to excess because of the recent loss of his teammate. I'm sure he's also been comforting his brother and Maya because they were both close to Cam. Whatever the reason he's here we're now on a strangers bed making out.

Owen's tongue licks over my bottom lip and my entire body tingles, I part my lips and allow his tongue in. Without thinking I pull his shirt up and feel his skin. He's got muscles, lots of them and my fingers dance around his abdomen and up to his chest. My hands frolicking in the playground of his muscles under his shirt. Owen suddenly breaks the kiss and takes his shirt off quickly. Before his lips reattach to mine he grips my dress and rips it open, buttons pop off going everywhere and it makes me laugh. Owen grins and then his lips take mine again. I open my mouth and our tongues meet, Owen opens my bra with one finger and takes it off lying us down again.

He turns me to my back staying locked in the kiss and his hands cup my breasts, squeezing gently bringing forth a moan from my lips. I continue caressing his chest and abdomen, every time my fingers get near his belt his stomach muscles tighten. When my fingertips graze his belt he moans. Instinctually I pull at his belt and next thing I know we're naked, our divested clothes in a pile with our shoes at the foot of the bed. Our lips are locked again and I'm on my back, Owen is over me, his weight off of me but he's between my legs. I feel this tickling, tingling rush through my body and this sudden desire for Owen to touch me! I move my hips toward him and I feel him penetrate into me. At first it's an odd pleasurable feeling and then it's pain and then pleasure again and then pain. This goes on for a while but I keep kissing Owen and he's playing with my breasts the pain starts to melt away and then…and then…

And then the next thing I remember I'm waking up naked in a bed. I look next to me and see Owen asleep in the bed and naked. I gasp but when he stirs I stop moving, I don't want him to wake up and know I was here. I suddenly get a flash of making out with Owen on this bed and liking it. I'm partially thrilled and partially disgusted. I slip out of bed slowly and quietly looking around the room for my clothes. I find my bra and panties but my dress is ripped so I open the dresser in the room and find a shirt big enough to be a dress on me. I leave my torn dress and put the shirt on and my shoes and quickly sneak out of the room. I walk home and begin to remember things about last night. I was in emotional pain and got drunk rather fast, I remember Owen and I flirting and being in the bedroom kissing and that's it everything else is fuzzy.

"Where were you? What are you wearing?" Jake asks when I walk in the house.

"Alli's, dress got dirty borrowed a shirt Sav left behind," I reply quickly before running upstairs.

"Good because I told your mom you were at Alli's. Should I wait for you we need to be at school soon?" Jake asks following me up the stairs.

"Not going to school," I respond before going into the washroom and turning on the shower.

I get undressed and get in the shower, I have no idea what happened with Owen, or how far I went. I remember kissing and I remember flashes of other things. I'm terrified that I lost my virginity last night and don't remember it now but I convince myself we were too drunk. I feel sick and throw up in the shower, my head is pounding I guess this is a hangover. I turn off the shower and go to my room getting into pajamas and into bed and stay there the rest of the day. In the late afternoon there's a knock on the door and I peak down to see Adam at the door so I walk down to let him in.

"Are you sick or hiding from Eli?" Adam asks.

"Just didn't feel like school," I reply going back to my room and Adam follows me.

"You missed an interesting memorial service, Maya kind of freaked out but it's understandable."

"I didn't know Cam at all and after Eli found him I…" my sentence drifts off and Adam gives me a slightly worried look.

"I brought your homework, are you coming tomorrow or should I bring your homework until you're ready to face Eli again?" Adam asks handing me my homework.

"I'll be back tomorrow I just needed a day."

 **(OWEN)**

I wake up with a yawn and stretch, and then I realize I'm naked in a bed that isn't mine but then I remember the party and most of all being with Clare. I look in the bed but she isn't here, I see her dress but not her bra or panties or shoes so she must have left. I get out of the bed and pull on my jeans and boxers and get out my phone, it's almost eight I don't have time to go home and change before school. I pick up Clare's dress and find it torn with all the buttons ripped off, I remember doing that, all the buttons popped off and we laughed. That's not all I remember we had sex last night, we were drunk and we had sex I remember it all now.

I get dressed, borrow some deodorant and hair gel from Tony, he had the party last night and this is his house, Clare and I had sex in his bed but I see him in the living room. He's sleeping on the sofa with a girl in his arms. I get in my car and drive straight to school, my backpack is still in here from yesterday. When I get to school I put Clare's torn dress in my backpack and get in just as the bell rings for first period. I go to the locker room and put my back in the locker when I get out my gym clothes to change for exercise science.

"Where were you this morning?" Dallas asks as we're changing.

"Went to a party at an old buddie's house, slept there and slept late," I reply.

We change and go out to the gym, Dallas doesn't say anything else but he works out hard. Losing Cam was a blow to all of us but Dallas took it very hard. We shower when Armstrong blows the whistle and return to the locker room, after changing back I grab my backpack and start walking the halls. The bell rings before I can find Clare and I head to my second period class. I'd ask Eli where she is but they just broke up and I have her torn dress in my backpack and knowing Eli he'd punch first and ask questions later. Of course if he found out I had sex with her he might just kill me. Even if he didn't see the dress or find out we slept together he'd wonder why I want to know where Clare is when I've had no interest in her before this.

The teacher pairs us off for the assignment in class and I get paired with Drew. We begin working but my mind is not on the assignment it's on Clare.

"Hey wake up in there we need to work," Drew grumbles hitting my forehead with his pencil.

"Sorry," I apologize looking at my notebook.

"After Cam I can understand you being distracted," he shrugs.

"Yeah," I nod slowly, "after Cam."

"Something else on your mind?" Drew asks.

"Nope," I shake my head, "just Cam."

If it were any other girl I'd tell him, even if I'd hooked up with Bianca last night I would tell Drew. Not that I'd ever hook up with B as she's like a sister to me. Any other girl and I'd tell him but not Clare. We finish our project and when the bell rings for lunch I look for Clare but I don't see her. I can't ask anyone where she is because they'll want to know why I'm asking and I can't tell anyone. I don't see her all afternoon and after school is Cam's memorial, all of the team is going and a lot of the school is here. Maya freaks out but I'm not surprised Cam's death shocked us all and she was dating him. After Maya's little freak out the memorial pretty much breaks up and I decided to go home. Tris is sleeping at Tori's again tonight so I go home and shower. I do my homework and try to get Clare off my mind but it's hard. I get to school early the next morning and wait for her near the entrance. She comes in with Jake so I don't approach her at the entrance but I do follow her to her locker.

"Clare about the other night," I start but she turns to me with a death stare.

"Don't ever talk about that night again. Don't talk to me, just leave me alone Owen and go back to ignoring me like you always have," she says to me with a sharp tongue and venom laced in her voice. It hurts, hurts more than Anya turning me down.

"You want your dress back?" I question taking it from my backpack.

"No I don't just go away Owen, nothing happened the other night," she whispers tersely and slams her locker shut. She turns on her heel to walk away from me in the opposite direction but when she sees Eli at the end of the hall she freezes. He looks at us and Clare turns again and runs down the hall.

She avoids me the rest of the day, the rest of the month, and the next month, and the next. She won't so much as look at me, not that it's hard to avoid each other because we don't travel in the same circles. I keep telling myself to let it go but I can't. When she runs for student council president next year against Drew I see how it's affecting her, how he's playing dirty and I want to hold her when she looks like she might cry. It hurts like hell that she avoids me, that she won't even look at me and it hurts wondering what she might think of me. Does she think I forced her? Her ripped dress might give her that impression. It also hurts that I can't stop thinking about it and I'm determined to get her to talk to me before graduation.

Saturday is prom and I know it's my last and best opportunity. I have a tux just no date, I go stag with about half the Ice Hounds but Luke goes to dance as soon as we're in. Dallas brought a flask and he and I stand in a corner watching prom and sipping from the flask. When I see Clare come in it's like a walking vision, she has this incredible dress and she looks amazing. I have the biggest desire to run over and just kiss her. Dallas has pretty much the same look on his face when he sees Alli come in, her arm linked with Clare's.

"It's my last night of fun, full time Daddy duty after tonight for the rest of the summer," Dallas sighs looking at Alli.

"Last year the hottest girl in the school was my date. This year the one I want won't even look at me. But I'm going to make her talk to me, I'll find a way," I comment taking one last sip from the flask and handing it to Dallas.

I watch Clare but I'm not the only one Eli is doing the same, he watches her but he stays back. He seems to want to talk to her too but I want to talk to her first, knowing their history and her weakness for him if Eli talks to her first I'll never get the chance. When Clare greets the Torres brothers and their dates, Becky and Bianca, I see my way to get my chance. After Clare says hi to them she goes to her table with Jenna, Connor and Alli.

"Drew can I talk to you?" I ask approaching their table.

"Be right back," he tells Bianca kissing her before getting up. I take him to a corner away from the table where Adam can't hear us. "What's up?" Drew asks.

"I need to talk to Clare, if I ask her to dance she'll turn me down. You'll be running student council together next year she'll listen to you, convince her to dance with me."

"Why do you need to talk to Clare?"

"I just do, please just convince her to dance with me so I can talk to her," I beg.

"I'll see what I can do but I'd still like to know what you could possibly have to talk to Clare about," Drew replies before walking back to his table.

I go back to Dallas and watch as Drew goes over to Clare who's now eating. He says something to her and the two of them get up. For a moment they talk in the corner, Clare looks annoyed at first but her face softness after a minute and then she looks at me before walking over.

"One dance," she says holding out her hand and Dallas chokes on the sip of whiskey he just took.

I smile taking her hand and we go to the dance floor thankfully just as a slow song comes on. She puts her hands on my shoulders, I put my hands on her waist and we begin swaying to the music.

"Clare about that night, I didn't force you."

"I know that," she says looking away from me.

"You do?"

"I remember I was drunk; I remember kissing on the bed. I remember pieces of what happened. And I I know in the moment that I wanted it."

"If you know that then why have you been avoiding me for the last three months?"

"Because," she replies moving a little closer to me and lowering her voice, "it was my first time and I was too drunk to remember most of it. I did something stupid, I felt ashamed and…dirty."

My heart sinks when she says that and we stop dancing. Her arms fall form my shoulders and she looks at the floor.

"Clare I didn't mean to make you feel any of that," I apologize.

"I know Owen it wasn't you it's just how I felt."

"Look I know we were both drunk and you don't remember very much but that night meant something."

"No the night meant nothing Owen, we were hurting, we got drunk and we made a mistake."

"It did m…"

"Time to announce the prom royalty," Fiona says loudly into the mic and interrupting me, "your queen is Clare Edwards and your king Eli Goldsworthy."

Clare kind of stops breathing and then Eli comes over taking her hand and glaring at me. He begins dragging her to the stage and I resist the urge to punch him.

"Come on Clare we won," he says excitedly pulling her up the stage steps.

I watch them get crowned and then they begin their slow dance. He puts his arms around her waist, hers go around his neck and they dance so close there is no space between them. When they begin talking I turn away, he's talking to her, they have a history, he's won. I walk back to the corner but Dallas is gone I see him talking with Alli now. I sit at my table and get some food but it's too painful to watch Clare and Eli dance so I scarf down my cake and look at it instead. When I look back at the dance floor Clare and Eli are gone. I look all around the dance floor for her but she's vanished and Eli looks despondent and is talking with Fiona.

"Luke you see where Clare went?"

"Yeah she left, ran out mid dance with Eli. She probably went home. I saw you dancing with her I didn't know you had a thing for Clare," he kind of laughs.

"Neither did I," I reply and turn walking away from him, "until we made love," I whisper. I go over to Drew and Bianca who are dancing. "Where does Clare live?" I ask them.

"Uh-uh I did my part I got you a dance. Have you seen Clare pissed off? I'm not getting on her bad side when we're going to be running student council together next year," Drew shakes his head.

"B you picked her up before going to Jake's cabin right?"

"Yeah and I'll give you her address if you tell me when you got interested in her," Bianca replies. They're no help so I run over to Jake who's talking to Mo at their table.

"Jake where's your house?"

"Why?" He inquires looking up at me with a curious but worried look.

"Because I need to talk to Clare."

"I think my sister is better off not talking to you, aren't you going away to college next year anyway?"

"No I got accepted to U of T and I'll be here next year. I just want to talk to her I wouldn't hurt Clare," I plead with him.

"Even if I did tell you where we live I doubt she went home," Jake tells me.

I give up trying to get someone to tell her where her house is and just leave. I spend about an hour driving around trying to find Clare but I never see her. So I go home, my parents are in bed and Tris is at Tori's place he's been spending a lot of time there because her family is moving in a couple of weeks. I change out of the tux and get ready for bed but I can't sleep. Grad is tomorrow and then Monday I leave for Santa Barbara, California and to attend All-Star Sports Camp. I'll be gone all summer, I had my chance to talk to Clare and it was a disaster. I get one more chance if she goes to see Jake graduate tomorrow. And only if I can somehow get her alone. If I can't I won't see her all summer and so much can happen in a summer. Maybe a summer away will be a good thing, maybe I'll forget about her and meet some California beach babe. Still if I see Clare tomorrow I have to find a way to talk to her.

 **(CLARE)**

"No the night meant nothing Owen, we were hurting, we got drunk and we made a mistake," I insist but I'm not being entirely truthful with him or myself. I've been afraid to talk to him since that night and I've been doing everything I can to forget that night and not look at Owen. Mostly because when I looked at him I think about that night and with a whole torrent of emotion that came with that night and after it. I'd convinced myself the night was a mistake and meant nothing just to save my sanity.

"It did m…" Owen begins but is interrupted by Fiona on stage.

"Time to announce the prom royalty; your queen is Clare Edwards and your king Eli Goldsworthy," Fiona says and I freeze. I'm sure I heard her wrong but Eli comes over taking my hand and pulling me from Owen.

"Come on Clare we won," Eli grins dragging me on stage and we get crowned. After we're crowned we go down to the dance floor for our spotlight dance.

"I can't believe so many people voted for us," I comment as Eli and I begin dancing.

"Correction some people voted for us," Eli replies with a smirk.

"You fixed the votes?"

"With some help from Fiona. I had to talk to you it's our last night I leave for New York tomorrow."

"Talk about what Eli? You leave tomorrow, we're not getting back together and there's nothing more to say."

"Yes there is, Clare. But before we talk about us what did Owen want with you?" Eli asks and his jealousy is only thinly veiled by concern.

"It doesn't matter," I shake my head.

"Clare it's our last night together tomorrow I leave for New York tonight should be special for us. I know I messed things up, I was messed up after Cam and I screwed things up," Eli says and he continues talking but I don't hear him anymore. When he talked about finding Cam all I could think of was my drunken night with Owen. I begin to feel slightly ill and in desperate need of air.

"Excuse me," I whisper pulling away from Eli and then I run. Weaving through the crowd to the stage and into the back and then through an employee door. I know Eli will follow me so I keep running until I simply can't run anymore and then I stop. I have no idea where I am now, I ran a few blocks but I don't care where I am just that I'm away from prom, Eli and Owen. I can't stop thinking about that night with Owen now. How I felt in the moment and how I felt after. I was kind of a mess for weeks after that but I hid it pretty well, or people thought I was a mess because of Eli. When my period was late I was so panicked but I took a home pregnancy test and it was negative. A few days later I had a light period but I was happy to see the blood because my period came. It didn't make it any easier to see Owen though. Since then my periods have continued to be light and irregular but at least I'm having periods.

"Clare?" Fitz's voice knocks me from my thoughts and I look over at him. He takes off his zip-up hoodie and puts it over my shoulders. This small tender act of chivalry makes me smile and I pull his hoodie around me. "I was going to ask why you aren't at prom but it looks like you were, what happened?"

"I never should have gone, I didn't have a date and I knew it would be a disaster. I don't think I've been to a single DeGrassi dance that didn't end badly somehow."

"I'm responsible for one of those," he says with a regretful tone.

"Not entirely, Eli holds some responsibility for that too. He couldn't just let it go. Anyway you weren't responsible for tonight that was all Eli and…" I pause before I say Owen's name because he's Fitz's friend and I don't really want to explain what happened with me and Owen to anyone, "and that I shouldn't have gone."

"Well maybe I can make up a little for ruining Vegas Night even if I was only partially responsible. At least I assume you don't plan to go back to prom?"

"No I don't want to go back," I shake my head.

"My car is this way," he smiles putting his hand at the small of my back. We walk to his car and he opens the door for me. He drives us to The Dot but asks me to wait in the car so I look at my phone. I ignore the texts from Eli but text Jenna back that I'm okay and will call them tomorrow. Fitz returns to the car with a small brown bag and two to-go cups in a carrier. He sets the bag on the floor in the back and hands me one of the cups. "Cream, extra sugar," he says and I smile because he remembered what I order.

He drives us to a spot that overlooks the city, gets a blanket from the trunk putting it on the hood and then helps me onto the hood. He gets the bag he picked up at The Dot and his coffee, I'm already holding mine. Fitz sits next to me and opens the bag, handing me a small to-go container and a fork. I grin even more when I see that he got me my favorite pie. We don't say anything just sit there on the hood of his car watching the city lights and the stars. He doesn't need to ask what happened with me and Eli because he still works at The Dot and I know he's heard the rumor. And he's still friends with some students like Owen and Bianca, he's even sort of friends with Drew now. Not that my relationship with Eli is the talk of the school, Eli running naked through the school was though.

We stay out there all night, just watching the stars moving across the sky. When I shiver he puts his arm around me. After watching the sunrise we get back in the car and he stops at a 24-hour diner where we eat breakfast and then he takes me home. Opening the car door for me and walking me to my front door.

"I can't thank you enough, you saved my night Fitz," I smile taking off his hoodie and handing it back to him.

"Well how about a proper date? Tomorrow night? I have the night off again. I'll understand if you don't want t…" Fitz stops talking when I stand on my tiptoes and kiss his cheek.

"I'd love to, pick me up at five," I tell him before walking into my house. I look back at Fitz through the glass and see him smile, touching his cheek where I kissed him. I lock the door and he waves before walking back to his car.

"Oh good you're home I was thinking I was going to have to call the cops. Told your mom you were at Alli's for the night."

"I'm fine Jake," I smile.

"You comin' to watch me graduate today?" He asks and I pause on the stairs.

Do I go watch him graduate and risk getting cornered by Owen and Eli or do I play coward and not support Jake, hiding at home so I don't have see them?

 **It's not a bad cliffhanger, besides it's short story month and the update is this Sunday! I'll pick up with the grad ceremony and then jump a bit.**


	2. Standing Here with My Hands in My Pocket

**Welcome to chapter two! Thanks to everyone that read the premier and especially to those who reviewed and shared your thoughts.**

 **Ch. 2 Standing Here with My Hands in My Pockets**

 **(CLARE)**

"We're really proud of you son," Glen says hugging Jake tightly.

"Thanks Dad but if you don't let me go I'll miss the ceremony," Jake comments.

Glen releases Jake and he goes to the auditorium stage door while the three of us go in the front to sit down. The family and friends of the other graduates are filling the auditorium and we begin looking for empty seats.

"In one short year you'll be up there graduating Clare. You know you should start thinking about the schools you'll apply to, branch out your extracurriculars. Maybe go out for a sport this year and what about y…"

"Clare," Adam interrupts my mom and I breathe a sigh of relief, "why don't you sit with us?"

"Thank you," I whisper linking my arm with his and following Drew and Adam to empty seats.

"No sweat I saw the look on your face," Adam grins.

"I can't believe she was going on like that about school. My mom will just be thrilled when I graduate and she never worries about Adam," Drew comments.

"Not about me and grades anyway," Adam adds.

We sit down and the ceremony begins. Principal Simpson makes a speech and then Fiona does her valedictorian speech. I clap for everyone but loudest for Jake. I do clap a little louder for Fiona and Imogen, than I clap for most of the others, because they are sort of my friends. I also applaud louder for Katie because we did become pretty good friends with her while she was dating Jake. I clap for Eli but when he looks right at me the hairs on the back prickle up a little and my chest fills with a rush, almost a fear. As much as he means to me I have to admit I'm rather relieved that he'll be leaving today and will not be here all summer. When Owen gets up I force myself to clap because if I don't someone might notice he's the only one I don't clap for. Owen looks at me too and I get butterflies in my stomach. I bite my lip inadvertently when our eyes meet as he takes his diploma from Simpson.

After everyone gets their diplomas they toss their hats in the air and people take pictures. Instinct tells me to leave now, to slip out while the graduates are distracted by getting their pictures taken. I don't though, I would feel bad for not congratulating Jake, I could wait until he gets home but I feel like I should at least tell him I'm leaving. He'll be going to the grad party at Fiona's, she basically invited everyone including me but I'm not going I don't want to see Eli or Owen.

I wait for the graduates to finish with their pictures and then make my way over to Jake. He's standing with Mo and they both look at me when I walk over.

"Congrats, both of you. I'm really proud of you Jake," I smile hugging him. "I'm going to go home before Eli tries to talk to me," I inform Jake.

"I think it might be too late for that," Jake comments and I look behind me to see Eli.

"Clare we need to talk," he asserts taking my hand and pulling me away from Jake and Mo.

"Eli there's nothing to say. You'll always be my first love and you'll always mean a lot to me but we're done Eli. It's never worked out with us, it always explodes, you're the gas and I'm the match we don't work. I wish you all the best in New York but there's nothing more to say," I assert taking my hand away.

I turn and get a few steps before Owen appears. He opens his mouth a little like he's going to say something, but then looks at everyone around us and closes his mouth again walking away. Before either of them, or anyone else, decides to talk to me and try to keep me here I run out. When I'm out of the school I begin walking, I walk to The Dot hoping Fitz is there. He said he had the night off but I'm hoping he's working the day shift. When I go into the virtually empty café and find him behind the counter I smile.

"You aren't at the grad?" He asks.

"I watched Jake, and the others, at the ceremony but I didn't want to stay. Didn't really want to be around Eli, he's leaving for New York tonight and he's still determined to talk to me or be with me, I'm not sure but I didn't want to hear it. Seems pretty quiet here."

"Yeah but it will pick up as soon as people start leaving the ceremony. Are we still on for tonight or are you doing something with your family for Jake?"

"He's going to a grad party, we're still on," I smile.

"I'll pick you up at seven. If you don't want to be around people then you might want to leave the café will start filling up."

I smile and wave to Fitz as I leave and walk home. I eat and shower, watch TV and otherwise generally distract myself before it's time to get ready for my date with Fitz.

"You're dressed awfully fancy for the grad party young lady," Mom remarks.

"I'm not going to the grad party I have a date," I reply.

"Going out with Eli? I saw you two talking at the ceremony," Mom comments.

"I'm not going out with Eli Mom I have a date with Fitz."

"Fitz? Do we know him? The name sounds familiar," Mom comments.

"I went out with him once last year," I respond without going into detail.

"Wait a moment is he the boy that went to juvie after threatening Eli with a knife? You are not going out with that boy Clare."

"He's not the same boy that threatened Eli Mom. He changed a lot in juvie and if Eli hadn't poisoned him with ipecac making him throw up then he never would have scared Eli. Besides I'm seventeen you can't stop me from going out with him, you know nothing about him Mom."

"Then I'm sure he won't mind coming in so we can get to know him better," Mom replies.

"I'm sure he won't," I nod and hope Fitz is okay with it. After a moment the doorbell rings and I open the door. "My parents want to meet you," I tell him as I let him in. "Mom, Glen this is Fitz."

"Nice to meet you," Glen says shaking his hand.

"Please sit down Fitz," Mom insists motioning to the sofa. We sit on the sofa and she sits in the armchair while Glen just stays in the kitchen. "Fitz is an interesting name, is that a nickname?"

"Yeah it's short for Fitzgerald my last name but it's what I prefer to go by."

"How long were you in juvie?" Mom asks and I give Fitz an apologetic look.

"Three months, I'd been in trouble before but never like that. It was the best thing that could have happened really, I found faith and something better than causing trouble and making other people miserable because I was miserable. I have a job now and moved out of my house, away from my abusive stepdad and stepbrother and that helped too. Now I spend my time working, at church, volunteering or reading," Fitz replies.

"So you don't speak to your parents?"

"I never knew my dad and I haven't spoken to my mom or stepdad since leaving the house. It's just better if I have no contact with them."

"Where do you work?"

"At The Dot, I'm full time and work afternoon or night shifts usually but occasional mornings."

"I think that's enough and we have dinner reservations. I'll be home by curfew," I tell Mom standing up and taking Fitz's hand to pull him with me. I grab my purse and we leave the house. "I'm so sorry, I was surprised she even remembered you. It's not as though she was paying any attention that night or cared what happened," I apologize while we get in his car and he begins driving.

"It's okay, she's just showing she cares. If my mom showed even a portion of that maybe, I wouldn't have gotten into so much trouble. Honestly it's okay, they were all questions I could handle so don't worry about it. Are you hungry?"

"Starved."

"Good I know a great place to eat."

He drives us near Ashbridges Bay and we eat at a dive that looks out at the water. It's a nice place, small but charming and the view is fantastic. Even though the place doesn't look like it has very good food the food is amazing. We have a table that looks out to the water and we watch the view while we eat. We don't say very much but I just love being with him, the moment is serene and I feel safe, it's a very nice feeling. After dinner we walk along the harbor holding hands. We watch the sunset before returning to Fitz's car and he drives us to another restaurant where we order dessert.

"So if you're not living at home anymore where are you living?"

"I live in a sort of halfway house. Father Gregg placed me there. It's not the best place, I have a room and that's about it. Most of the people there are a lot older than me and have been in jail a lot. It's still better than living with my mom and stepdad though. I'm working at saving enough money to get my own place, which isn't easy especially when I have to keep paying for car repairs. Plus, with my age and the fact that I was in juvie most of the places that would let me movie in are more than dumps. If I can save up enough for six months of rent and be able to show that I have it, along with a letter from Father Gregg and my place of employment, then I should be able to get a decent place of my own."

"That's great Fitz, you're planning for the future and you want better for yourself. I'm really impressed," I tell him and he grins wide. "You know Jake is leaving for California in a few weeks, if you need a place to crash and don't want to go to your place you can sleep in his room after he leaves."

"I don't think your mom would like that."

"She'll calm down and I'll explain it to her. It's not like you'd be sleeping in my room. Besides they're taking Jake to California and they'll be gone for two weeks."

"You aren't going with them?"

"No, I didn't really feel like two weeks of being stuck with my parents and getting Jake settled. They're driving out and flying back. Anyway I told Drew I'd help out with the daycare he's doing at DeGrassi over the summer. Most of us are working there."

"So you'll be down the street from The Dot all summer?"

"Yeah I will, Monday to Friday eight to six every day," I grin. After finishing dessert and hot chocolate Fitz takes me home. He walks me to my door, I stand on my tiptoes, placing my hands on his shoulders and touching my lips to his, "I had an amazing time tonight."

"Me too," Fitz smiles.

"If you're working tomorrow maybe I'll stop by after I'm done at the daycare," I tell him.

"Yeah I close tomorrow so I'll be there. Goodnight Clare."

"Night Fitz," I smile before going inside.

I watch him walk back to his car and wave as he drives off. I sleep very well that night, I don't think about Eli or Owen. I wake up to my alarm and get ready to leave. I'm not hungry so I skip breakfast and walk to the school. I see Drew and Adam's car but don't see Alli's car yet. I find the front door unlocked and find the Torres brothers with Dallas at the office.

"Hey Clare, come help me set up in the auditorium," Drew insists.

"Okay," I shrug stashing my purse in the office before following Drew. We get in and he closes the door handing me an envelope.

"Owen asked me to give this to you when you didn't come to the party last night."

"Thanks," I reply slowly taking the envelope.

"Look I know we haven't exactly been friends and we haven't ever really talked or said anything to each other without it concerning Adam. And Owen and I had a pretty rocky start to our friendship but we are friends now, and well with you and me running student council next year I'd hope that we'll become friends if we're not yet. Anyway I don't know what happened with you and Owen but I know something did and if you ever want to talk about what happened I'm here," Drew says while I'm still looking at the blank envelope.

"Thanks Drew, that means a lot," I reply smiling at him and he grins.

"I'm going to go see if Alli and Jenna are here yet and set up a table at the front to get the kids checked in. So you have about ten minutes to read the letter," Drew tells me before leaving. I wait until the door is closed and then open the envelope taking out the folded paper and unfolding it.

 **Clare,**

 **I know you think the night meant nothing, that it was just a drunken night and we didn't know what we were doing but it's not true. Not for me anyway. I was drunk but I knew what I was doing, what I wanted. I had lost a teammate, my brother had lost his friend and I was hurting, but that night with you all the pain was gone. It wasn't that I was drunk or that we made love, which I'm sorry you don't remember much of because it was amazing. What made me feel better, what took away the pain, was you.**

 **I'm sorry your first time was being drunk after heartbreak. I'm sorry that you felt ashamed of that or ashamed of me. I'm sorry you don't remember very much but I haven't been able to stop thinking of that night or of you. I know you don't want to talk to me and I guess I get it. I just wanted to say I'm sorry. Sorry for making you feel bad. Sorry your first time wasn't a magical night. Sorry I couldn't make you feel the way you made me feel. If you never want to talk to me again, I'll understand but maybe when I get back we can really talk.**

 **You might not believe me but the night did mean something to me. You mean something to me.**

I bite my lip, rolling it between my teeth as I read the letter again and again thinking about that night. When I hear the door open again I stuff the letter into the pocket of my jeans. Now I wish I'd talked to Owen yesterday because he'll be gone all summer and a lot can happen during a summer.

 **(OWEN)**

"I'm going out," I call to my brother as I leave the house. He's in his room with Maya, apparently she's been hanging out most of the summer. I arrived last night back from California, I had a great time at camp and during the day I was busy playing all kinds of sports with all kinds of pro athletes. At night in my bunk however I couldn't get Clare off my mind, she would invade my thoughts at night and most of my dreams.

"We're going to hang out at Miles' house," Tris hollers through his door.

"Who the heck is Miles?" I call back and Tris comes out of his room.

"He's new we met him and Chewy at the concert at the beginning of the summer."

"Oh cool, see you guys later."

I begin at U of T in three weeks and DeGrassi begins in two weeks. I'm hoping to talk to Clare before school begins. Drew said he gave her my letter but I haven't talked to him since the day I got to camp. I drive to The Dot figuring that I might find some people hanging out there. I almost go inside but I hear Clare's giggle coming from the back alley. I walk back there just in time to see Clare kissing Fitz! My stomach sinks, my heart twists and all the breath leaves my body.

I knew it was a possibility that she'd date over the summer. I didn't exactly expect her to wait for me anything but to see her kissing one of my closest friends it's a gut wrenching feeling. Almost a feeling of betrayal.

I try to back up and sneak away without them noticing me but I step on an empty coffee cup, it makes a sound and they both break the kiss to look. Fitz smiles at me while Clare looks surprised to see me and then incredibly guilty.

"Hey Owen where you been all summer?" Fitz asks.

"Camp, I went to a sports camp in California. Uh sorry for interrupting," I say scratching the back of my head uncomfortably before sticking my hands in my pockets.

"It's fine, Clare just came to get some cupcakes for the daycare. I was just saying goodbye," Fitz tells me.

"Owen you want to walk me to DeGrassi and help me carry these?" Clare asks with a hopeful tone.

"Uh sure," I nod slowly.

"I'll see you tonight," Fitz tells Clare kissing her cheek. She walks to me, chewing on her lip and I take the boxes of cupcakes from her. We walk in silence until we've crossed the street and then she looks up at me.

"I'm sorry you saw us, I was going to tell you, I didn't want you to find out that way. Drew gave me your letter, it meant a lot to me Owen. I've been reading it all summer. I didn't realize how you felt that night or the effect it had on you. I was only thinking about me, and I thought you wanted to talk just to boast about your conquest or something. I'm sorry we didn't talk, I'm sorry I gave no consideration to your feelings. I was going to tell you about Fitz, we've been dating all summer but I didn't want you to find out about it that way. Your letter meant a lot and I regret not talking to you. I was upset that night, drunk for the first time and I hardly remembered a thing the next morning. I was embarrassed, ashamed of myself but it wasn't you Owen. You didn't make me feel anything but great that night. It wasn't you that made me feel bad it was my shame the next morning. It's why I couldn't talk to you and why I wanted to forget but after reading your letter I began to remember that night in a whole new way. I saw it all in a new light and I wasn't ashamed anymore. I remember most of it now, there's still some holes but I remember a lot more than I did. Owen," she says putting her hand on my arm at the bottom of the steps and I turn to her, "I'm glad you were my first." She smiles and stands on her tiptoes kissing my cheek.

"Seeing you two was pretty shocking but I am happy for you and Fitz. He's one of my best friends and he's a good guy, he deserves someone good," I tell her and she smiles.

"Hey Owen welcome back," Drew says after opening the front door to DeGrassi.

"Thanks."

"You want to come in and help out at the daycare? We're playing field hockey this afternoon," Drew comments.

"Uh no thanks I just got back last night, not sure I want to spend the afternoon with a bunch of screaming kids. I was just helping Clare bring the cupcakes."

"I'll take those," Drew grins running down the steps and grabbing the boxes. "I'll see you in there Clare. Later Owen, we should hang out before school is back," Drew remarks.

"Yeah definitely," I nod. Drew grins and runs up the stairs. When he's inside I look back at Clare.

"I really am happy for you and Fitz. It's not at all how I pictured seeing you again would go but I am happy for you. Anyway I should be going, guess I'll see you around.

"Wait," she says taking the chastity ring from her finger, "you should have this. I want you to have it. Just um don't tell anyone it was mine please. I haven't told anyone what happened between us that night, not even Fitz, I wouldn't know how to explain it. Don't think that because I haven't told anyone the night wasn't special to me though, because it was."

"I won't tell anyone," I assure her taking the ring and putting it my pocket. "You know I've been thinking about you all summer, picturing seeing you again and even though you've been on my mind all summer I forgot how beautiful you are."

Clare smiles and blushes, I turn and start walking back to The Dot. I actually do go in this time, I order some lunch from Fitz and talk to him for a few minutes. I tell him it's great about him and Clare while fingering the ring in my pocket and thinking about my night with Clare. I really am happy for them; I do mean it but my happiness for them isn't going to keep me from remembering that incredible night or wanting to be with her.

 **The update on Friday will likely begin with the start of school although I may show a bit more of summer.**


	3. Hard to Tell the Wishing from the Well

**Sorry there was no chapter yesterday but work was just too crazy and work has to come first. But at least it's short story month so you aren't waiting a whole month for the next chapter just a few days.**

 **Ch. 3 Hard to Tell the Wishing from the Well**

 **(FITZ)**

"Hey Owen you want your usual?" I ask him when he walks up to the counter.

"Yeah thanks," he nods and I ring him up.

I put his order in and clock out taking my apron off and putting it in the laundry. I grab my stuff from my locker and then put an order in for lunch. Taking a pop from the fridge I sit down with Owen.

"So how was California?" I ask him.

"Great, warm and sunny we went to the beaches and there were so many girls in bikinis. We even went to Disneyland one day. So you and Clare, how'd that happen?"

"The night of DeGrassi's prom, I ran into her she was kind of upset. I got us coffee and dessert from The Dot and then drove us to a place to watch the city. We stayed all night just watching the stars. When I took her home I asked her out on another date and it went from there."

"I'm happy for you I know you've liked her for a long time. I'm sure she'll be good for you and you for her," Owen says just as Rachel brings me my lunch.

"Yeah she's getting me all cultured and stuff, can you believe she actually got me to go to a museum?"

"I bet only she could do that," Owen laughs.

We finish eating lunch together, talking and catching up then Owen leaves and I clock back in. When I get off work I clock out again and walk down to DeGrassi to pick up Clare. It's just a little after six and the daycare is now closed so she should be able to leave.

"Hey Fitz, Clare's almost done she'll be out in a moment," Adam tells me when he comes out the front door.

"Cool thanks," I grin.

"Bianca drove down from Waterloo and we're going to watch movies at our house. We invited Clare but she said she'd wait and see what you want to do," Adam says.

"Yeah sounds good," I grin and the front door opens Clare walks out with Drew and Dallas.

"Hi," she smiles running down the stairs and into my arms smashing her lips to mine.

"Hi, so to the Torres house for movies?"

"If you don't mind, it's the last weekend before school starts," Clare says.

"Yeah it sounds good to me," I smile. I put my arm around Clare, we walk back to my car and we drive to the Torres house. "Hey Bianca," I grin hugging her, "how's Waterloo?"

"Good, summer term was good but I'm glad it's over," Bianca says. Drew orders pizza while Adam picks out a movie.

"I got three pizzas I hope that's enough," Drew remarks.

"Alli doesn't eat that much," Dallas replies.

"Yeah but I invited Owen over too," Drew tells us and Clare bites her lip.

Owen arrives just before Alli, Owen and Adam are the only ones here without girlfriends. Adam and Becky broke up earlier this summer when she and her family moved back to Florida. And Owen doesn't have a girlfriend, hasn't since Anya.

We all get comfortable and the movie begins. We watch a movie and eat pizza for dinner. Clare spends the entire time, even while she's eating, in my arms and avoids looking at Owen.

"What do you guys want to watch next?" Drew questions when the first movie ends.

"Actually I think it's time for us to go, this was fun but I'd like some time alone with my boyfriend," Clare comments.

"We'll see you Monday," Drew snickers.

"Night everyone," I grin. Clare grabs her purse and we go out to my car. "Do you really want time alone with me or are you just trying to get away from Owen?"

"What do you mean?" Clare asks with a tone that has some guilt laced into it.

"I mean he's the only person you would never look at, in fact you seemed to go out of your way not to. I know he did some mean things but so have I in my past. Owen's really a good guy."

"I know, it's just that I don't know him that well," she replies slowly.

"So what are we doin' tonight?" I question as we approach her house and dropping the subject of Owen for now.

"Let's have dessert and watch movies at my house," she replies.

"We were just watching movies," I laugh.

"I know but we weren't alone," she responds with a coy smile.

I park at her house and we go inside, I greet her parents they know me very well now as I've stayed here at least one night a week, every week all summer long. I always sleep in Jake's room and Clare's mom was not so sure about it at first but after a couple weeks of convincing she gave in. Now she's used to it but she knows if I'm sleeping here I'm always in Jake's old room by eleven and Clare is in hers.

Clare tells her parents we're going to watch movies and we sit on the sofa. Her parents go up to their room after a short time and Glen turns out the lights. Clare cuddles much closer to me when her parents are upstairs. After a movie and some dessert Clare takes a shower and I get ready for bed.

"Goodnight Gorgeous," I smile kissing Clare when she's out of the shower and I'm about to enter the washroom to brush my teeth.

"Night," Clare grins before going into her room.

I brush my teeth before going into Jake's old room and read until I'm tired enough to go to sleep. I'm not asleep for very long when the door opening wakes me up. I sit up opening my eyes and see Clare coming in.

"Clare? Are you okay?" I yawn.

"Can't sleep," she says locking the bedroom door.

"Sorry do y…" I start to say and then she begins crawling over the bed to me. I'm rather distracted by how she crawls and that her nightie is hanging down and I can see her breasts. I've temporarily lost the ability to think or speak. Not that it matters because her lips attach to mine.

She pushes me down and straddles over me, her tongue licking over my bottom lip. I part my lips and her tongue slides in, one of her hands goes under the blanket and caresses my chest. I deepen the kiss and my stomach muscles tighten as her fingers brush over them. When her fingers go under the waistband of my boxers a breath hitches in my throat and I break the kiss.

"Clare what are you…"

"Don't talk just kiss," she asserts mashing her lips to mine again. She only kisses me for a few seconds before she breaks the kiss and sits up. She takes her nightie off and I find it's the only thing she was wearing! Looking at her naked body in the moonlight I forget how to think or speak again. She throws the covers off me and begins tugging at my boxers.

"I won't argue because I can see you are very sure, and I definitely want to, but what about a condom? I don't want you getting pregnant."

Clare grins and leans over opening the nightstand drawer and pulling out a condom. I smile and pull down my boxers, Clare opens the condom and strokes me a few times. When I'm rock hard she puts the condom on me and I moan. Then she flips us so that I'm on top and I spread her pussy lips, my fingers slide in and open her up making Clare moan. When she arches her back, biting her lip to stifle her moan, I remove my fingers and thrust in. She exhales on a gasp and then pulls me down to kiss her to keep from moaning too loud since her parents are right next door. I move slowly, kissing her deeply until we both climax at the same time, our moans of ecstasy melting into our kiss. I slow down and pull out lying next to Clare.

"I love you Mark," she whispers.

"I love you Clare," I smile kissing her temple.

 **(CLARE)**

"Here I brought coffee for everyone," I announce. It's the first day of school and we're gathering backstage for an assembly in the auditorium.

"Oh thank goodness coffee, have I mentioned how awesome it is that your boyfriend works at The Dot," Dallas comments taking his cup.

"No but you can thank him later the coffee's on him. So did you actually write a speech for this or are you doing it off the top of your head?" I ask Drew.

"Top of my head of course," Drew grins and I shake my head.

When the bell rings Drew goes on stage, he introduces himself as student council president and then begins introducing the rest of us. When we're all on stage he starts talking about what we'll be doing this year, and then he suddenly stops talking and drops to the floor like a dead weight scaring us all.

"DREW!" Adam hollers kneeling down by his brother.

"Assembly over everyone to your classes," Simpson commands.

"Dallas call 911," I command kneeling down with Adam just as Drew opens his eyes.

"What's everyone looking at?" Drew questions.

"You fainted in the middle of the assembly and terrified the entire student body," I tell him.

"I'm okay now," he replies trying to get up.

"Lie down Drew, you're going to the hospital you've had concussions before. An ambulance will be here soon and Simpson called Mom now lie down," Adam asserts pushing his brother down again.

"Adam you can wait with your brother the rest of you should get to class," Simpson tells us.

Connor and I both have world history first period, Adam has it with us but he's staying with Drew and possibly going to the hospital with him. The rest of the day is uneventful, Adam returns at lunch and tells us that Drew will be okay, he doesn't have another concussion but they are keeping him in the hospital for observation and he'll have to stay home for a couple of days to rest. We still have student council after school, I run the meeting and we spend most of it looking at the notes Drew and I made in the last couple weeks of summer, and looking at what's left from last year. After the meeting I walk to The Dot to meet Fitz and we go out to dinner. Just after we sit at table Owen comes in.

"Owen," Fitz calls to him waving him to our table.

"What are you doing?" I whisper to Fitz.

"You said you wanted to get to know him better," Fitz whispers back.

"That's not exactly what I said," I mutter under my breath just as Owen walks over.

"You should eat with us," Fitz tells him.

"Uh no that's okay I don't want to intrude on your date," Owen says and Fitz gives me a sort of pleading look.

"No please join us it's really just dinner join us," I give in.

"So how was the first day back at DeGrassi?" Owen asks as he sits down.

"Well Drew passed out at the assembly, Adam said he was okay but he's staying home a couple days to rest," I reply.

"Drew probably faked to get out of school a couple days," Owen jokes and I laugh. Before any of us can say anything else a waiter comes over and takes our order.

"So do you have your classes yet?" Fitz asks Owen when the waiter leaves.

"Yeah I got all the classes I wanted. I was at the campus today and got invited to a party at a frat house on Friday. They want me to pledge to the fraternity, not sure I want to be in a frat but I'll check it out. You guys should come," Owen says.

"Cool," Fitz smiles before looking at me, "that's okay right?"

"Yeah a party sounds fun. Besides it can't hurt to check out the Ryerson campus if I don't get into Columbia next year."

"Now you're talking crazy of course you'll get into Columbia," Fitz says kissing my temple.

The boys do the talking over dinner, I chime in every so often but they do most of the talking. They pay and we say goodnight to Owen, Fitz takes me home walking me to the door to say goodnight. The rest of the week is fairly mundane, Drew returns to school Wednesday fully functional and whatever did happen Monday doesn't seem to have affected him at all. We hold our student council meeting at lunch on Friday so we can all go home and get on with our weekends. I go home and shower, changing for the party and Fitz picks me up at eight.

"You look great, I better stick close to you at this party or those college guys will be all over you," Fitz comments as he begins driving.

"There's only one guy I want," I reply taking Fitz's hand and interlacing our fingers.

Fitz smiles and kisses the back of my hand. The frat house is actually slightly off campus but Owen gave Fitz directions earlier. We find the house and walk right into the party, we even find Owen pretty quickly.

"Cool you guys made it you want something to drink?" Owen asks.

"A beer sounds good," Fitz replies.

"No alcohol for me just water is fine," I tell him. We follow Owen to the kitchen and he gets our drinks. We hang out with Owen for awhile but a boy in the fraternity that wants him to pledge pulls Owen away after a bit.

"I need a washroom," I tell Fitz after having two bottles of water.

"You want me to come with you?"

"I'll be fine, if a drunken frat boy hits on me I know where to kick him," I respond and Fitz grins.

I start searching the house for a washroom but the one washroom down here has a long line and I hear someone puking in it. So I go upstairs, most people seem to be going upstairs to get a bedroom but there must be at least one washroom up here. I walk past the first couple of doors and then open one, instead of a washroom it's a bedroom and Owen is in it alone.

"Sorry I was looking for a washroom."

"Oh there's one in here, go ahead I'll make sure no one comes in," Owen says. I close the door and smile at him before going into the washroom. When I'm done and leave the washroom Owen is still here.

"So what are you doing up here instead of at the party?"

"Hiding, I don't think I'm cut out for a frat too much dumb male energy mixed with alcohol," he replies and I grin.

"Owen I'm sorry I was so stubborn after that night and pushed you away. And that I was so short sighted and small minded. I hate those qualities in other people and I couldn't see them in myself. I never thought the night could mean anything to you. After I got your letter I saw it in a whole different way and even began to remember it different. What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry for all the time we lost because of me."

"It's okay you freaked out, I get it. Pretty sure anyone would have freaked out waking up naked next to me."

"Owen don't say that you're a great guy and if I hadn't been so stubborn things might have been different. I'm glad I found you that night, or you found me that part is a little fuzzy. What I do remember is how sweet you were, how I liked being with you and how you made me feel," I tell him and Owen smiles.

Our eyes lock together and then as if drawn together by magnets our lips join! Crushing together in this blissfully passionate ardent kiss. I grip his shirt, his hand goes to my lower back, I'm filled with electricity, heat and incredible desire. Just as I begin to have thoughts of getting Owen on the bed we hear the door handle turning and we jump apart. When Fitz opens the door I bite my lip looking away from Owen and hoping that my guilt is not betrayed on my face.

"There you are I was wondering what was taking you so long," Fitz says coming into the room.

"Owen was standing guard while I used the washroom. I didn't want to use the one downstairs. I do think it's time we left though, I don't think this is the crowd for any of us," I remark.

"Yeah time to go," Owen nods.

"You want to hand out with us?" Fitz asks Owen.

"Uh no that's okay I think I'll just go home and crash, it will actually be quiet at my place since Tris is at Miles' house. You kids have fun I'll see you later," Owen replies.

We leave the party together waving to Owen when we get to Fitz's car. Fitz takes my hand and I smile but the whole drive home I'm thinking about my kiss with Owen.

 **The update on Wednesday the 27th will jump ahead a little to Thanksgiving and include Halloween.**


	4. How did We get Here? How the Hell?

**Thanks to everyone who takes the time to review. I can already tell that this is one of those stories that you guys will influence. I already have some varying reader opinions on who they hope Clare ends up with. Of course I don't what you guys think if you don't share.**

 **It's pretty short tonight sorry.**

 **Ch. 4 How did We get Here? How the Hell?**

 **(CLARE)**

"Thanks for helping out," I smile at Fitz as he pulls into the DeGrassi parking lot.

Today is Thanksgiving and we're having a dinner for needy families at the school, actually more of a lunch as we serve at noon. It will end at three and everyone helping out at this dinner will go have dinner with their families. Fitz is helping out at DeGrassi and then having dinner with me and my parents.

"I'm happy to, I think it's great, I'm a little surprised it was Drew's idea," Fitz replies. We get out of the car and he puts his arm around me.

"I was surprised it was Drew's idea too but he did good," I grin.

All of student council is here to help serve and to cook and clean up. Tristan, Maya and some of the other grade ten kids will be providing entertainment while people eat. And Owen is here, I haven't seen or spoken to him since the kiss at the party.

"Hey Owen," Fitz grins.

"Hi," he smiles at Fitz and looks at me, "I came to watch Tris but Drew said you could use some more help."

"Good, we can definitely use the help," I reply putting a smile on my face but it's not easy to keep it there. A part of me wants to be in Owen's arms, to kiss him and be with him. As much as a part of me yearns to kiss him again a larger part of me is in love with Fitz.

"Good everyone is here, so everything is mostly cooked we just need to heat it or finish cooking. Some stuff needs to get prepped like cranberry sauce and then we need the tables to be set and greeters," Drew says.

"I'll help in the kitchen," I respond.

"Me too," Owen and Fitz say at the same time.

"Okay then, um why don't you two go to the kitchen and see what they need help with. I'm going to take my veep to help me with the signs directing people where to go and park and all that," Drew tells them putting an arm loosely around my shoulders and we walk to student council. "Sorry I didn't think to ask if you'd be okay with Owen being here," Drew apologizes when we're alone.

"No it's fine he came to see Tris and help and he's my fr…well I'm not sure friend is really accurate but we're friendly."

"Does Fitz know you and Owen…had a thing?" Drew asks slowly not sure how to phrase it. I never did tell him what happened between me and Owen.

"No he has no idea, it was one night after Cam and my break up with Eli it…" I stop talking and look Drew.

"It's none of my business," he smiles.

"I did talk to Owen, when he got back from camp I talked to him, thanks for delivering his letter."

Drew just grins and we grab the signs, and a roll of tape. We get the signs up and go back inside. Drew goes to check on the performers and make sure they're ready. I go into the kitchen, Adam waves when I come in and I wave back. Owen and Fitz are both chopping vegetable for the salad.

"What can I do?" I question.

"You can wash the lettuce," Adam tells me.

Jenna, Connor, Alli and Dallas are here too. Drew comes into the kitchen a few minutes later and with all of us working together we have everything ready by noon. Drew and I greet people as they come in and get them seated. The dinner goes well, we serve fourteen needy families a healthy and full Thanksgiving meal. Tris and the other performers stay to help clean up and we're done by two so everyone can go home and have dinner with their families. I admit I spend most of the time skillfully avoiding looking at Owen so I won't think of him and want to kiss him. Thankfully it's fairly easy with everything going on, but I do wave to him when we all leave.

"How was the dinner kids?" Mom questions.

"It went really well," I smile.

After serving a lot of good food and not eating since breakfast we're both very hungry. Thankfully dinner is almost ready so Fitz and I wash up and set the table. Dinner is sort of interesting, Fitz has been here a lot over the summer and since we've been together but he hasn't exactly spent much of that time around my mom or Glen. Since they don't know what to talk to him about and they avoid talking about the time he spent in juvie my mom mostly talks about church.

"Well that was kind of awkward sorry," I apologize to Fitz when we're alone in the living room. My parents have gone to bed and Fitz is sleeping over.

"It was wonderful, I was with you," Fitz smiles giving me a tender kiss. "Besides it was a million times better than any holiday I've ever had with my family," he says.

I smile and lean against him, we start to watch a movie and I fall asleep against Fitz. I wake up some time later and find that Fitz fell asleep as well. When I begin to stir he wakes up.

"I guess we should get to bed," I yawn.

"Yeah, come on let's get to bed," he smiles helping me up.

I stop him when we're at the bottom of the steps linking my arms around his neck and clasping my lips to his.

"I love you Mark."

"I love you Clare."

 **(FITZ)**

"Mmm you look hot," Clare grins when she sees me in costume. Tonight is Halloween and we're going to a party at the Torres house. I've never been one for dressing up on Halloween but Clare wanted me to so I did. I'm dressed as Robin Hood and Clare is Maid Marion.

"I feel silly in tights but you look incredible," I smile admiring my girlfriend before stealing a soft kiss from her perfect lips. "We'd better get going I think we're already late," I comment.

Clare smiles and we go down to my car. I drive us to the Torres house, the party is already going and everyone's dressed in costume. We greet Drew and Adam who are dressed as the Blues Brothers. While we're greeting them Bianca and Owen come over, she's dressed as Cleopatra and he's in a firefighter costume. After complimenting each other on our costumes Clare and I get something to eat. I eat a lot but Clare hardly eats anything. We spend about an hour talking with people, we dance a couple of times and I eat some more. Clare starts out happy but after an hour she sits on Dallas' bed and won't get up and begins to look uncomfortable.

"Are you okay?" I ask her.

"Mark we need to go," she tells me gripping my hand.

"Okay I'll take you home," I reply helping her up.

"No I need to go to the hospital," she whispers, "I think I have appendicitis or something."

"Okay let's get you out of here," I tell her.

"I don't want to worry anyone, just say we're going out for some air or something if anyone asks," she asserts and I nod.

When we're outside she releases a breath but I can tell she's in pain. Once I get her in my car I rush her to the hospital and park helping her into the emergency room.

"We need a doctor," I tell the nurse at the desk.

"What's the problem?"

"Owww," Clare shrieks clutching her stomach.

"Is she pregnant?" The nurse questions.

"No she thinks it's her appendix," I reply.

"Something's wrong," Clare says with a distressed voice.

It's Halloween and the ER is pretty full but seeing how much pain Clare is in the nurse calls for an orderly and they get Clare into a wheelchair. They take her back to bed and close the curtain around it. They ask her to change into a gown and tell her someone will be in shortly.

"Mark I'm worried," she cries when she has the gown on and she's in the bed.

"I'm here," I assure her holding her hand and kissing her cheek before a nurse comes in.

They probe her stomach, ask when her last period was and some other questions then tell her they're going to do an ultrasound to look for obstructions in her abdomen. Clare's in a lot of pain again and squeezes my hand as we wait for the doctor. A female doctor comes in with an ultrasound machine and after about twenty seconds of looking at Clare's belly she calls for an orderly.

"Okay we need to get you up to maternity," the doctor tells her.

"No I can't be pregnant I had a period two weeks ago," Clare shakes her head.

"Spotting isn't uncommon during pregnancy but you are indeed pregnant," the doctor says turning the monitor toward Clare and we see an image of a baby! "You're about 34 to 36 weeks pregnant and you're in labor," the doctor tells her and an orderly comes with a wheelchair again. Seeing the baby on the screen and hearing that she's pregnant my heart stops, apparently so does Clare's because she goes pale. The one time Clare and I had sex was only six weeks ago so it's not my baby.

Clare is shaking when she's put in the wheelchair and I follow her up to maternity. The orderly helps her into the bed and a nurse comes in and begins hooking Clare up to all sorts of things. When they're done they go between her legs.

"You're already seven centimeters the baby is coming fast. We'll check back in about ten minutes, if you need us press the call button," the nurse tells her before leaving.

"So should I call Eli and tell him he's about to be a dad?" I ask her when we're alone.

"No you should call Owen," she tells me and I lose all the breath in my body. The thought of Clare and Owen invades my mind and it won't leave.

"Owen?"

"It was one night, long before we were together. I had no idea I was pregnant," she pleads with me with tears in her eyes.

"I need to call Owen, he should be here," I say trying to leave but she grips tightly to my hand.

"You're coming back aren't you? I need you Mark please that night with Owen wa…ahh…owww," she shrieks unable to finish.

"Breathe you can explain later," I tell her but she doesn't seem to breathing just screaming and squeezing my hand. "I'm going to call Owen I'll be back," I assure her kissing her forehead before I leave her room. I walk out to the hall and find a quiet place to make the call. I'm shaking now, I was shaking when they told us she was pregnant but finding out one of my oldest and best friends is the father is a feeling I can't even describe. I take a deep and get out my phone, scrolling through the contacts and clicking Owen's name. I listen to it ring and ring, I wonder if he can even hear the phone at the party or if he has it on vibrate but finally I hear it pick up.

"Fitz hang on I'm going upstairs can't hear a thing," Owen tells me. After a few seconds I no longer hear the background noise. "What's up? Where'd you guys go?"

"We're at the hospital and you had better get down here you're about to be a father."

 **Sorry it's short and there's no short stories in September as it's one shot month so the next update is not until Thursday, October 6** **th** **. The update will pick up from pretty much here in Owen's pov.**


	5. Step by Step We'll Make it Through

**By now hopefully you've all seen the announcement on my page of the DeGrassi Saviors site. If you haven't please check it out. It explains the new order of stories and why there is no longer a schedule. It also lists the currently running short stories.**

 **Ch. 5 Step by Step We'll Make it Through**

 **(OWEN)**

"This season we're going to crush every other team. I'm talking to the coach about teamwork drills," Dallas tells me.

"Cool sounds like a good plan," I reply and feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. I see that it's Fitz and press accept as I start heading up the stairs. "Fitz hang on I'm going upstairs can't hear a thing," I inform him. When I get upstairs I close the door, "What's up? Where'd you guys go?"

"We're at the hospital and you had better get down here you're about to be a father," Fitz tells me and my heart stops.

"I…Clare's…baby…" I babble incoherently as I go into shock.

"Yeah I know but she's in labor and you might want to get here now if you want to see your baby being born?"

"I'm coming, I'll be right there," I reply and hang up. I run out of the house and to my car, speeding to the hospital. I find maternity and run up asking the nurse where Clare's room is. She gives the room number and I run in. "I'm here, I'm here. I had no idea. Why didn't you tell me?" I ask Clare rushing to her side.

"I didn't…," she pauses for a deep breath and squeezes my arm very tightly, "know. I thought it was my appendix and they told me I was in labor," she says before breathing heavily again.

"Don't worry about that now just concentrate on giving birth to our child," I tell her taking her hand.

"If you boys are going to stay in here I need to you come with me and wash your hands. And I think we'll get you some scrubs and get you guys out of those costumes," a nurse says.

"We'll be right back," I assure Clare kissing her forehead.

Fitz and I leave to go wash up, they give us some scrubs so we can change out of our costumes. Fitz changes completely but I keep the pants and boots on, I took off my fireman helmet in the car and I take off the jacket. We change in a room and the nurse waits for us, walking back with us. We're going pretty slow and the nurse is telling us what's going to happen but we both go pale when we hear Clare screaming, we begin to run but the nurse catches us.

"Relax boys it's all part of labor she and the baby are fine," the nurse assures us.

"Can't you give her something for the pain?" I ask.

"We have but she's too far along for an epidural, this baby is coming now," the nurse replies.

Fitz and I return to the room and either side of Clare taking her hands. She squeezes our hands hard, nearly crushing them as she tries to breathe through the pain. Just as she begins to relax a female doctor and a male doctor come in the room.

"Hello Clare I'm Doctor Banks and this is Doctor Mohr from the NICU, because the baby is a preemie he's going to observe and take the baby to be examined. You're ten centimeters and ready to push. We're going to scrub up and then it will be time to push," the doctor says before leaving room. All the nurses leave too and Clare pulls on our hands.

"I can't do this. I didn't know I was pregnant what if something's wrong with the baby?" Clare cries.

"But you don't drink, except for that night, and you don't do drugs. You eat well and take care of yourself the baby will be perfect," I assure her.

"All you should worry about right now is bringing the baby into the world," Fitz says and then her room is filled by doctors and nurses once again.

A bunch of stuff happens down near her feet. We can't see most of it because of the sheet over Clare's legs. The doctor tells Clare to push and her face contorts as she grabs onto us and makes a sort of roaring scream. After a few seconds the doctor tells Clare to stop and breathe and she relaxes a bit. After a few deep breaths and a few seconds to relax the doctor tells Clare to push again. She repeats the pushing and then breathing a couple more times.

"Very good Clare relax for a moment, the head is out and once the shoulders are out the rest is easy," the doctor tells her. Clare nods and sinks into the bed a little doing her best to breathe. I can see that she's in pain but all I can do is hold her hand. "Okay push Clare, one more big one," the doctor instructs.

Clare pushes again, making a sort of scream and grunting and then suddenly the room is filled with a sound. A shrill, grating cry but it's the most incredible sound I've ever heard because it's the cry of my child.

"You did it Clare," Fitz smiles smoothing her hair and kissing her forehead.

"Would you like to cut the cord dad?" The nurse asks motioning the scissors between Fitz and I as she obviously doesn't know which of us is the dad. I take the scissors and the nurse shows me where to cut.

"Is the baby okay? Is it healthy? What is it?" Clare asks rapidly.

"It's a girl, she seems healthy but she's a little premature and we'll need to check her out. She's breathing well so let me clean her up a bit and you can hold her mom," the nurse tells her.

"Owen is she okay?"

"She's perfect," I tell Clare with a huge grin, a grin that won't be leaving my face any time soon because I'm the father of a gorgeous daughter.

"Alright Clare you've got some tearing I'm going to sew you up," the doctor tells her.

"Okay Mommy here's your daughter," a nurse says handing our perfect baby to Clare.

When Clare has our baby in her arms she smiles and her eyes light up. She looks at our daughter with so much love in her eyes and brushes her finger along our daughters' cheek.

"She's beautiful, look what we made," Clare smiles at me.

"She's amazing I grin," kissing my daughter's forehead.

"I know you don't want to let go of her but we have to take her for examination and blood tests. Because you didn't know you were pregnant and she was born at about 34 to 35 weeks we need to make sure she's fully developed and doesn't need any time in the NICU or any other special care. You should rest now, we'll keep you informed and we'll bring the baby back to you as soon as we can."

Clare reluctantly lets go of our daughter and the nurse takes her. Fitz and I stay holding Clare's hand while the doctor and another nurse finish up between Clare's legs.

"Okay Clare we're all finished you're going to be very sore for a couple of weeks. If you need to use the washroom press the call button and a nurse will come in. You have some special care instructions to use the washroom so you don't get an infection or tear the stitches. We're going to let you rest for a few minutes but one of our pediatric or NICU doctors or nurses will be in shortly to give you an update on your baby. Press the call button if any of you need anything."

"Thanks Doc," I nod.

"What if something's wrong with her? She doesn't even have a name! We can't be parents Owen we have school a…"

"Clare breathe your heart is racing," Fitz tells her kissing her lips forcing her to take a breath.

"Maybe we should decide if we want to, or even should do this. We're young, you're still in high school and we didn't know you were pregnant so we were not at all prepared. We don't have to keep the baby we should decide what's right for all of us, including the baby. We can worry about giving her a name if we decide to keep her," I tell Clare.

"Does that mean you don't want to keep her?" Clare asks with an anguished tone and tears running down her cheeks.

"I didn't say that but I haven't had any time to think about it and I don't want to keep the baby if it's not the right thing. It's a lot of responsibility and takes a lot of money and space, we're both in school we'd have to work out custody. It's just a lot and we both need to think about it responsibly before we take the baby home. If we'd known we would have had months to think about it and talk about it, prepare a nursery at your house and my house and have things worked out but we haven't. We don't have a lot of time to think about it but we should at least take the night."

"Owen's right this is a huge and life changing, event and you've had no time to prepare. You still have most of your senior year and you've dreamed about going to Columbia for years. She's your baby and she always will be but you need to really think and search your heart about whether you should keep the baby. You don't have to decide right now just think about it. I'll support you no matter what decision you make," Fitz tells her.

"You'll support me but what about my parents? I barely talk to my father and my mom will freak out."

"Why don't you get through the night, make your decision and then you can both worry about telling your families and friends," Fitz advises and Clare nods. Fitz sits on the edge of her bed and I sit in a chair next to her bed. We're all silent and caught up in our own thoughts until a nurse comes in with our baby.

"She's quite healthy, fully developed lungs and breathing very well. We're still waiting on bloodwork and because her immune system was still developing we'll need to keep her for at least a week for observation and to let her immune system and the rest of her body to develop a little more," the nurse says handing the baby back to Clare. I'm pretty sure Clare didn't hear anything once our baby was back in her arms.

"Thanks, when we'll we know how long she needs to stay in the hospital?" I ask the nurse.

"We'll keep her for a week, observe her and run more some tests and depending on how she does and the test results will determine if she can go home at that point or need to stay a little bit longer. If you need anything press the call button otherwise a nurse or doctor will be in about every hour to check on both of you."

The nurse leaves and we spend the next couple of hours just staring and the perfect little baby girl that was a total surprise to us all. We just gaze at her, touching her head or cheek, I caress her tiny little fingers and she grips my finger with her little hand. She seems to be asleep, her eyes closed and her head resting upon Clare's breast. And then my daughter, still grasping my finger, opens her eyes and they lock onto mine and that's it for me. In that moment where our eyes lock and she's holding my finger so tightly I feel my heart swell with love, a love and a level of love I never knew existed until just this very second. And I know that I want to keep her, I need to keep her, I love her too much to give her away and we can make this work, Clare and I we can make this work.

"She must be hungry, I don't even know how to feed her," Clare says moving the bed up as the baby starts to cry. Clare opens her gown a little to try and feed the baby while I press the call button.

"I think she's hungry but I don't…" Clare is saying and the nurse nods.

"Alright Dads this might be a good time for you to get some coffee," the nurse says.

"We'll be right back," Fitz tells Clare giving her a soft kiss before we leave the room.

Fitz and I find our way to some vending machines to get some coffee since it's after midnight and the cafeteria isn't open. We both get a cup of flavored coffee from the machine and sit down in the armchairs in this lounge type area. The coffee isn't great but we drink it anyway.

"I want to keep her, I need to, I'll figure out a way to make it work but I love my daughter more than anything and I can't let her go. I'm sure that Clare's already decided the same thing. I don't know about her parents but I know mine will help. We can do this, I can drop some classes and get a job, whatever it takes."

"I saw the way she was looking at the baby I know she wants to keep it too but I'm waiting for her to say it. So I guess you'll tell your parents tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah I'll tell them everything and I know they'll help."

"Good because I'm not sure her parents will help at all in fact I'm pretty sure Helen will go nuts. I think we've been gone long enough we should probably get back there and see how Clare's doing," Fitz says. I nod and we toss our coffee in the trash.

"She wouldn't latch on," Clare tells us when we walk back in the room and see Clare feeding the baby with a bottle. "The nurse said there were classes but that she might never latch on and breastfeed."

"Then we'll get lots of bottles and the best formula," I reply and Clare smiles.

"I want to keep her, I can't give her up," Clare says caressing our daughter's face.

"I told Fitz exactly the same thing when we were getting coffee. We'll figure this out, we can make it work. I'd do anything for her," I smile kissing my daughter's forehead.

Clare smiles at me and looks back at our daughter. Fitz is sort of smiling but he also looks a little pensive. Although he did find out that his girlfriend was pregnant and then find out that one of his closest and oldest friends in the father so I understand why he's pensive.

The nurse returns and shows all of us how to burp the baby and then shows us how to change her diaper. The baby is asleep now and we put her in the bassinet they brought in. Clare looks tired, I think we're all starting to feel it but I'm not leaving this hospital tonight.

"Not sure I want all the details but when did you two sleep together?" Fitz asks slowly.

"It was right after Cam died and Eli broke up with her. We were at the same party, we were both drunk and flirting and it just happened. She ran out the next morning when she sobered up," I'm saying when Clare speaks up.

"It wasn't because of you I was ashamed of what I'd done, and at the time I didn't think that night could have meant anything to you."

"But it did and I spent the next several months trying to get you to talk to me."

"Which we finally did but not until after you and I were together and I'm in love with you Mark," she tells Fitz with a pleading tone.

"I know, I love you too," Fitz assure hers her kissing her hand.

We fall into silence again and no one gets much sleep that night, we fall asleep for short bursts before getting woken up by the baby or the nurses and doctors coming in. They bring all of us breakfast at seven and I eat but then I decide I should go home and tell my parents that I'm a father.

"I'm gonna go home and talk to my parents. I'll be back after," I tell them.

"Good luck," Clare says and I grin at her.

"See you soon Baby Girl," I whisper kissing my sleeping daughter on the forehead.

"Owen she needs a name," Clare comments.

"She'll have one, we'll think of one together. I'll be back soon."

Fitz waves and I leave the hospital room. I get in my car and drive home, the whole way thinking about to tell my parents.

"Did you sleep at Drew's?" Mom asks when I walk in. Tris is still asleep but Mom and Dad are drinking coffee at the table.

"Doesn't look like he slept much at all to me," Dad comments, "and weren't you dressed as a fireman and not a doctor?"

"I was at the hospital all night, the scrubs are from the hospital," I inform my parents and Mom goes into worry mode.

"Why didn't you call us? What happened?"

"I wasn't the one in the hospital, I went because a girl that…see back in…" I stumble over how to tell them; this is harder than I thought. "I became a father last night," I finally blurt out and now both my parents turn white.

"Owen why didn't you tell us?" Mom exclaims.

"I had no idea until Fitz called me last night."

"What does Fitz have to do with this?"

"The baby's mom is his girlfriend now but they weren't dating when she and I slept together. We only had sex once, we were both drunk, it was right after Cam's suicide. We didn't really talk after that in fact she was pretty much avoiding me until I came back after summer. She didn't know she was pregnant until last night either when she went into labor. We were all shocked and we didn't really have time to prepare but we both know that we want to keep the baby. So you're now grandparents," I inform my parents and wait for a reaction but they just sit there staring at me with shocked expressions. Since they aren't talking I decide to continue. "I don't know how Clare's mom is going to react to the news but I want to be close to my daughter and I'm pretty sure that Fitz and Clare will need a place to live. Clare is still a senior in high school and Fitz is living in a halfway house right now. So I was thinking we have that two-bedroom apartment above the garage we could clear out and fix up for them before Clare is out of the hospital." Again I wait for an answer but they're still silent. "One of you say something, anything, you can even yell just say something."

"I think having them move into the garage apartment is an excellent idea," Mom finally says and it seems to have broken them from their shock.

"Yes we can move most of what's in there to the garage and probably get rid of some things. If you can get a few friends to help we can get through moving all the stuff today. I'll try and get a plumber out, might need to upgrade some fixtures no one has lived in that apartment since I was in college," Dad comments.

"We'll need to set up a nursery, I can go shopping this weekend I'm sure Tris will help," Mom says excitedly and I breathe a sigh of relief. I knew they would support us eventually but honestly I was expecting some yelling and angry disappointed talk.

"I'm going to take a quick shower and change my clothes before I go back to the hospital."

"Owen," Mom says as I'm getting up and I sit down again, "how's the baby? What's her name?"

"She's amazing but she doesn't have a name yet. They said she was born a few weeks early, 35 weeks but her lungs are developed and she's healthy. They're keeping her in the hospital for at least a week for observation and to let her system develop more. You can come see her later. I'm sure Clare will want to meet you but wait until I've talked to her."

I run upstairs and take a shower then change and leave again. Instead of returning straight to the hospital I stop at the Torres house first.

"Where the hell did you run off to last night?" Dallas asks when I come in.

"Hospital, I'll explain in a minute, what are you guys doing today?"

"That depends what it is that you want us to do," Drew responds with a suspicious tone.

"Help me clean out the apartment above our garage so Clare, Fitz and our baby can move into it when Clare and the baby get out of the hospital," I enlighten them and all their mouths drop open.

"What baby? Clare wasn't pregnant!" Adam exclaims.

"Wait that's what happened with you two you got her pregnant?" Drew exclaims at nearly the same time as his brother.

"We had sex, she thought it couldn't mean anything to me but it did, that's what the letter was about. By the time she was talking to me again she was already dating Fitz. None of us knew she was pregnant. She found out last night when she went to the hospital thinking it was her appendix and found out she was in labor; she must have told Fitz about us because he called me. Now I've got a beautiful daughter. I just told my parents and they're supportive of us and agreed that Clare, Fitz and the baby can move into the garage apartment but we have to get it ready for them."

"When did you bang Clare?" Dallas asks.

"Right after Cam's suicide and Eli's stupidity, at a party, we were both drunk."

"I'm going to go see her at the hospital," Adam says and he sounds like he's still in shock.

"Hang on I'm headed back over there but I want to tell her and Fitz about the apartment and see if she's told her parents yet. I'll call you when you can come and see her and the baby. So can you guys help me clean up the apartment?"

"Yeah no problem let us know when to come over," Drew says.

"Thanks oh and Drew can I borrow some clothes for Fitz? You guys are about the same size and we went to the hospital in costumes last night. He's wearing scrubs but he'd probably like some clothes," I comment. Drew runs upstairs and grabs me some clothes. I thank him, tell them I'll call them later and leave to go back to the hospital.

 **(CLARE)**

"Well that explains why you've been avoiding Owen so much," Mark says after Owen leaves to go home. "Do you have feelings for him? Be honest with me Clare."

"It's complicated."

"Complicated how? Was it more than that one night?"

"No but I was hurting that night after what Eli did, I was drunk and Owen was drunk and I just wanted to feel good. Owen was very sweet and gentle but when I woke up the next morning and saw Owen lying next to me I was ashamed. I was convinced that the night meant nothing to him and I was just a conquest so I avoided him. And then Drew gave me a letter from Owen it was very tender and touching and he explained everything from his point of view which made me see that night in a whole new way. And then you and I spent the whole summer together and I began falling in love with you, and then Owen returned. We were talking again but it was hard to be around him because I kept thinking about that night and being with him, and how things might have turned out different. When we went to that party with Owen he and I kissed and I liked it. I'm not entirely sure what my feelings are for Owen but I know that I love you."

"I love you too, I have for a long time but I have to be honest I'm not really sure how I feel about all this. You had a drunken night with one of my oldest and best friends, you kissed Owen while you and I were together and you're still thinking about being with him. Now you two share a child, it's a bond you'll have for the rest of your lives," Mark says and then the baby begins crying again. Mark presses the call button and kisses my forehead, "I'm going to get some coffee while you feed her."

He leaves the room just as the nurse comes in. I get the baby while the nurse leaves to get a bottle. I'm still feeding the baby when Mark returns, he helps to burp and change her and the doctor comes in to take the baby for another examination.

"You're not going to break up with me are you?" I ask Mark.

"No," he smiles, "I'm not going to break up with you. I still don't know how I feel about the whole thing, it may take me a while. But I do know that I love you and I'm not letting you go that easy."

I smile and pull him down to kiss me, "I was worried, but I'm not letting you go that easy either."

"Owen will be back soon and we should probably tell your mom she's a grandma," Mark comments.

"Let's maybe wait until Owen is back before calling my mom."

"You don't think she's going to be happy to be a grandma?"

"I think she's going to want to know when I had sex and then lecture me about unprotected sex or the hardships of being a single mom," I sigh.

"You are far from a single mom you have Owen he wants to be involved and you have me," Mark says and I smile.

While the baby is being examined and knowing I'm going to have company today I decide to shower and clean up a little. Getting up is far more painful than I was anticipating. I'm amazingly sore between my legs and in my lower abdomen. Mark helps me to the shower, he helps me get undressed and then he showers with me. I have to get back into my hospital gown and Fitz has to get back into the scrubs since he doesn't have clean clothes to change into but it feels good to shower. We dry off and I put my hospital gown back on while Fitz gets dressed again. We go back into the room and just as I'm getting back in the bed Owen comes in the room.

"Where's the baby?" Owen asks.

"The doctors took her for more exams. She needs a name we can't keep calling her the baby."

"She does need a name but that doesn't mean we have to come up with one right this minute. I spoke with my parents and they were shocked but they're behind us, totally supportive of everything. In fact, we have a two-bedroom apartment above our garage, it's full of boxes and needs to get cleaned up but the Torres boys and Dallas said they would help so I was thinking, and my parents agree, that you two and the baby can move in there. Fitz can move out of the halfway house and you guys would have your own place rent free but I'd still be near my daughter and able to watch her and spend time with her."

"That's incredibly generous of your parents and a huge relief because I was dreading going home with a baby," I smile at Owen before looking at Mark. "I hope you'll move in with me? You don't have to be a part of this, it's not going to be easy raising a baby," I tell Mark.

"I would love to move in with you. I'm in this with you, it won't be easy but she's worth it," Mark grins. I smile and pull him to me for another kiss.

"Thank you Owen that's a…wait did you tell Adam, Drew and Dallas we have a baby?"

"Yeah they were very shocked and Adam wants to come and see you, so do my parents but I told them to wait."

"I guess I need to tell my mom," I sigh. "Owen you probably shouldn't be here when I tell her. You either Mark, maybe you guys can go and start cleaning out the apartment. Can one of you call Adam and ask him to come? I want someone to be here with me."

"I'll go call, be back in a moment and here I borrowed some clothes from Drew for you," Owen says handing the bag to Fitz.

Fitz thanks him and takes the clothes, and Owen leaves to call Adam. He returns after a moment and says Adam is on his way and Fitz comes out of the washroom changed into fresh clothes and out of the scrubs. When Adam arrives Owen and Mark leave, they brought the baby back in a short time ago and Adam's been staring at her since he came in the room.

"I can't believe you were pregnant," Adam comments after a few minutes.

"Neither could I, when they told me I was in labor I thought they had to be wrong and then I saw the baby. I hope my mom takes this whole thing well but I doubt she will. I also don't think we should meet her in the room. If she knows I'm in maternity she may just leave the hospital without seeing the baby," I remark pressing the call button.

When the nurse comes in I ask if they can watch the baby for a little while and if I can meet with my mom in another room. The nurse leaves for a bit and when she comes back tells me that they have a room I can use to tell my mom and they'll take the baby to the nursery. I'm taken by wheelchair to the private room on another floor and Adam calls my mom before meeting me in the room.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted Glen here too but I asked them both to come," Adam tells me.

"Thanks Adam, it's probably good to have Glen come too."

While waiting for them to arrive I think about what to tell my mom and I hope she takes it well.

 **Update soon and it will pick up from right here and Clare telling her mom. It will also include others visiting the baby and probably Clare and Mark moving into the apartment.**


	6. Another Beginning without Any End…

**Hopefully by now you've all seen the announcement that the number of short stories is going down to three at one time. This should help them move along faster with less time between chapters, especially without short story month.**

 **In addition to taking it down to three short stories at a time I will be posting two consecutive chapters per short story at a time.** **Something you would probably have already figured out had you seen the clue for this story** **,** **it pays to look at the website** **. The chapters will be posted within 24 hours of each other, which means you can expect chapter 7 to go up by tomorrow evening. **

**It's pretty long get comfy.**

 **Ch. 6 Another Beginning without Any End…**

 **(CLARE)**

I hear my mom's heels clicking on the linoleum of the hospital hallway, with each click and the louder it gets the harder my heart pounds. I grab Adam's hand, so worried about her reaction I'm almost shaking. Adam squeezes my hand back and gives me a quick reassuring hug before my mom and Glen enter the room.

"Clare why are you in the hospital? Why didn't you call us?" Mom asks hugging me tightly. After Adam called them he helped me onto the bed and sat next to me.

"Mark was with me, and so was Owen," I reply holding back on telling them the reason I'm in the hospital.

"Who is Owen?" Mom asks.

"He's Mark's friend and he and I are…close, I guess," I reply slowly.

"Clare why are you in the hospital?" Glen asks with a concerned tone but steering us back to the one thing I don't want to say. I bite my lip and release it with a heavy sigh.

"Back in March after the kid committed suicide at the school and Eli found him, and then broke up with me I went to a party," I ramble a bit so Adam squeezes my hand to get me to stop. I look at him and he gives me a reassuring smile, I take a deep breath before continuing, "I got drunk and Owen was drunk at the party and we had sex."

"You did WHAT?! And what does that have to do with you being in the hospital now?" Mom asks with a voice that's enraged and full of disappointment.

"Please Mom let me finish. I ran away that morning, I didn't think that night meant anything to Owen but it did. Only I didn't know that until months later and in the meantime I fell in love with Mark. And then last night at the party I was in pain and I thought it was my appendix but when we got to the hospital I found out I was pregnant. I had no idea that I was pregnant but last night, or very early this morning I gave birth to a baby girl," I enlighten them, rambling nervously again, and then brace for the reaction.

"I'll find a good adoption agency," is all Mom says. She has no expression, her mouth, her eyes, her entire face is just blank and stone like. I can't see any emotion at all and it's scarier than having her yell.

"I'm not giving my daughter away. Owen and I are keeping the baby," I tell them firmly.

"Be reasonable Clare we have nowhere for a baby at the house and you're in your senior year of high school. You're student body vice president this year you can't take care of a baby," Mom remarks but still with no expression on her face.

"I'm not in this alone Mom and the baby won't be at the house, Mark and I and the baby are moving into an apartment on Owen's family's property. Owen wants the baby and Mark is still my boyfriend, he's going to raise the baby with me. I know I'm in school and this changes things but I am not giving the baby up," I assert with a firm voice filled with determination.

"And she has us, her friends. We'll help and Owen said his parents would help. Clare, Owen and Fitz know it's going to be hard but they love their baby and they are keeping her and making these sacrifices because they love her," Adam says in my defense and I smile at him.

"I still think you're making a mistake and you're going to ruin your life. Let's go Glen," Mom replies getting up and Glen follows her out.

When they're gone I turn to Adam putting my head on his shoulder and break into tears. He holds me and strokes my hair for a moment. I knew my mom wouldn't react well but I expected yelling, disappointment and I expected that she'd want to at least see her granddaughter. I wasn't expecting her to go blank and just walk out, I feel like she's throwing my daughter away and me and it hurts immensely.

"We should get you back to your room," Adam says after a minute and I nod. Adam helps me back into the wheelchair and takes me back to my room. He helps back into my bed and I press the call button for the nurse to come in.

"I'd like to have my daughter back please," I request of the nurse as soon as she comes in. She smiles and leaves the room to get my daughter from the nursery. They bring my daughter to me wheeling her into the room in the bassinet and the nurse hands her to me. As soon as my daughter is in my arms the hurt is replaced by love and the feeling of being tossed away by my mother is replaced by a need to protect my daughter.

"They've been working at the apartment for a while now they could probably use a break. I'm going to call Drew and have them all come to the hospital unless you don't want them here?" Adam asks.

"No I'd like my friends here and I need Mark, Owen too. After what happened with my mom, I want as many people that care about me and the baby as I can get around me right now," I reply.

"I'll be back in a minute," Adam tells me and I give him a small smile.

The whole time Adam is gone I just stare at my daughter, watching her sleep and stroking her cheek. She was a surprise created after a drunken mistake but she's an amazing miracle and I love her deeply. Adam returns and tells me everyone is on their way including Owen's parents, whom I've never met, and Tris of course. Wanting to make a good impression on Owen's parents I ask Adam to find a hairbrush so I can look at least halfway decent when I meet Owen's parents for the first time. I brush my hair and it helps although I still look tired. I can hear the group approaching before they arrive. Mark and Owen are the first ones in, they come around to the other side of the bed, Mark sitting next to me and Owen stands peering down at our daughter.

"Fuck me you really do have a kid together," Dallas comments and Drew smacks him upside the head for the comment. "I mean parenthood is really hard but very rewarding," Dallas recovers and I smile at him.

"She's beautiful Clare," Drew grins kissing my cheek and looking at my daughter. Drew stands next to Adam while Dallas sort of leans in the back of the room.

"I'm an uncle," Tris grins coming over by Owen.

"Clare these are my parents Delilah and Leland," Owen tells me motioning to his parents. Of course I already guessed they were his parents as they were the oldest people here.

"It's nice to meet you Clare," Delilah says giving me a kind smile that makes me feel welcomed to their family.

"It's nice to you meet you too. Thank you so much for letting Mark and I move into the apartment on your property. It's very kind and generous of you. Would you like to hold your granddaughter?"

"I would love that," Delilah grins with a loving and heartwarming smile. I know already she and I will get along well. Owen carefully takes the baby from me, he holds her and smiles at her for just a moment before he hands her to his Mom. "She's beautiful," Delilah grins with pride looking up at her husband.

"Absolutely gorgeous, just like her mother," Owen's father says with a smile that makes me smile.

"So your Mom took the news bad?" Mark asks putting his arms all the way around me now that the baby is out of my arms.

"Bad is probably an understatement," Adam answers for me, "but she didn't really show much of a reaction at all. The biggest reaction she had was when Clare told her that she had sex. After that Helen just had a dead face, she said she'd find an adoption agency and when Clare said she and Owen were keeping the baby Helen told her she was making a mistake and then she and Glen left. Glen barely said anything at all."

"That's terrible I'm so sorry Clare, to think that a mother could turn away her child and her granddaughter," Delilah shakes her head.

"She never even saw her granddaughter, didn't even ask about her," I tell them taking Mark's hand and interlacing our fingers. He kisses my temple and begins stroking my arm with the other hand.

"What a terrible cruel thing to do. I'm sorry about your mom Clare but we're happy to welcome you, our granddaughter and Fitz to our home and our lives," Leland tells me and I smile again.

"Thank you, I'm happy we have somewhere to go. How is the cleaning of the apartment going?" I ask.

"It's going pretty well, there is some stuff to sort through. We should probably get back there is still a lot of work to be done," Leland replies.

"Yes quite a bit before it's suitable for living. We'll come back this evening to see you and the baby," Delilah says handing her back to me.

"Adam will you go with them? Owen can you stay for a bit?" I request.

"Yeah sure," Adam says and Owen nods.

"Here you can take my car back," Mark tells Owen handing him his keys but Mark looks at me cautiously.

"Thanks," Owen smiles.

I turn to Mark and give him a tender kiss, "Our baby needs a name and Owen should be a part of that."

"I'll see you tonight," Mark smiles kissing my temple before they leave.

"So," Owen remarks sitting on the bed where Mark had been, "what shall we name this beautiful girl?"

"I want her name to be meaningful, do you have your phone?"

"Yeah here," Owen says unlocking his phone he sets it in my lap and he takes our daughter to hold her while I use his phone to browse the internet.

I watch Owen a moment, watching him hold our daughter, his eyes light up as he looks at her with proud loving eyes that smile. It makes me grin to watch them, he really is a proud loving father and seeing them together makes the way I feel about Owen grow. Finally, I look at Owen's phone finding a baby name website. After looking through names and searching by meaning I find a name I like.

"I know what her first name should be, what do you think of Brayleigh? It means ray of hope," I tell Owen.

"It's beautiful just like her and I think the meaning is perfect because she is a ray of hope," Owen grins.

"Good then her first name is Brayleigh. Do you know where Milligan comes from?" I question.

"Yeah it's Gaelic, my great-grandparents were from Ireland," Owen replies.

I begin looking at Gaelic girl's names, a lot them are incredibly long and hard to pronounce but finally I find one I like.

"What do you think of this as her middle name?" I ask Owen showing him the name.

"Neeam?" He asks reading the name Niamh as it seems like it should be pronounced.

"Actually it's pronounced Neev, no idea why but it's Gaelic and I want to honor your family, your parents have been very generous and welcoming to me and to Mark. It also means radiance or brightness which she is."

"She most certainly is," Owen grins kissing her forehead.

"Brayleigh Niamh Milligan-Edwards," I grin stroking our daughter's cheek.

"A beautiful name for our beautiful baby girl," Owen smiles kissing her again before he hands her back to me. "I should be getting back, lots of work to do still but we'll come have dinner here with you and Brayleigh," Owen says kissing the top of my head before he leaves.

When Owen is gone I look down at my daughter, "I love you Brayleigh Niamh Milligan-Edwards."

 **(OWEN)**

"Did you name the baby?" Mom asks when I get back to the apartment. The apartment has been emptied of boxes, we got rid of some things that were obviously trash but a lot of boxes were moved to the house or the garage to be gone through later. There's still a lot of cleaning to do because no one has lived in this apartment for a very long time.

"We did Brayleigh Niamh Milligan-Edwards. Brayleigh means ray of hope and Niamh means radiant," I inform them all.

"It's a beautiful name Owen," Mom grins.

"I think so too, Clare picked it out but she did ask my opinion," I reply.

"I've been thinking, Clare can't go back to school right away she'll need to stay with the baby. She won't want to get behind though and she'll want to keep up with her student council duties. But Helen had essentially kicked her out and we'll need to tell Simpson, figure out how she can keep up with her classes and all that," Fitz comments.

"I don't have class until eleven tomorrow when do you start work at The Dot?" I ask him.

"Ten," he responds.

"We can go talk to Simpson in the morning, explain everything to him and see about her classes. As for student council well…" I look at Drew because he is the president this year.

"We'll work it out, we can video chat or she can come in after school for the meetings if you're done with classes or Fitz is done with work," Drew says.

"Yeah we'll work out a schedule," I nod.

We spend the rest of the day cleaning up the apartment. Audra and Omar even come over to help when they're done with their day. We scrub and dust and everything, by seven we're all exhausted but there's more to be done.

"We should take a break for dinner and go to the hospital to see Clare and the baby. I hate to give up for the day but it's getting late and we all have school or work tomorrow," Mom says.

"We got a lot of work done today, we should pick up some dinner and take it to Clare," Dad comments.

"We can get some of the kids from school to come and help us clean after school tomorrow. If there's enough of us I'm pretty sure that we could finish tomorrow," Adam offers.

"Yeah that would be good, I'm done with classes at three I'll meet you guys back here," I tell them.

We lock up the apartment and people go to the main house to wash up and freshen up while my dad orders dinner. Taking three car loads we pick up dinner and go to the hospital. When we all come into Clare's room she's a little surprised to see the Torres parents.

"What a blessed surprise," Audra grins smiling at Brayleigh.

"She certainly was," I grin.

"We brought dinner, I ordered you a salad with chicken," Fitz tells her handing her the box with her food.

"Thanks I'm very hungry," Clare says and then Brayleigh begins to scream and I pick her up. "She must be hungry too, Mark can you press the call button so they can bring in a bottle?" Clare requests and he presses the call button.

"Oh she must be hungry, we'll get a bottle right away," the nurse says poking her head in the door and then leaving again.

"It's okay Princess Daddy's got you," I try to soothe her as I cradle her to my chest and bounce up and down. The nurse comes in with a bottle and Clare starts to set down her salad. "No I'll feed her," I tell Clare.

I take the bottle and sit down in one of the chairs, cradling my daughter in my arm and feeding her. As soon as the bottle is near her lips she latches on and begins sucking. I watch her suckle, her eyes locked onto mine and her little hands batting at the bottle and my hand. She looks so angelic, so perfect and I fall in love with her again just watching her eat. She finishes eating and I grab a cloth putting it over my shoulder to burp her. After that she needs to be changed but Mom is done eating and she takes Brayleigh to change her. When she's done Mom keeps holding her until we're all done eating. Fitz and I tell Clare that we'll talk to Simpson tomorrow and Drew tells her that they'll work out student council. I kiss Brayleigh's forehead and say goodnight to her before we leave.

I'm pretty tired by the time we get home, we all are but we also all want to shower. I let Tris shower first and go to my room, I fall asleep before he's out of the shower and dream about my daughter. I wake up early and shower and text Fitz telling him to let me know when he's ready to go talk to Simpson. I eat breakfast and with my parents and then Fitz texts that he's ready any time. So I tell him I'm leaving for DeGrassi and he says he'll meet me there. It's still early but there are a few students arriving at DeGrassi, I wait on the steps for Fitz. I see him drive in and park a few minutes later and he meets me on the steps. We go into the school and the secretary looks like she's seen a ghost when she sees Fitz and I at her desk.

"Mr. Milligan you graduated last year and Mr. Fitzgerald you no longer go to this school," she says.

"Yes we know but we need to speak to Mr. Simpson regarding Clare Edwards," I tell her and she picks up the phone.

"Sir Owen Milligan and Mark Fitzgerald are here to speak with you about Clare Edwards," she tells him and then after a few seconds sets the phone down. "Go ahead," she tells us and we walk into Simpson's office.

"Hello boys, surprised to see you two back here. You said this was about Clare?" Simpson questions as we sit down.

"Yes Sir you see back in March Clare and I had sex and…well it's a long story. But she and Fitz started dating and Clare didn't know she was pregnant and since she didn't know she never told me but then a couple days ago we had a baby daughter," I inform Simpson and his mouth drops open as his eyes bulge with shock.

"Clare had a baby?"

"Yes Sir and we're raising her together, Clare and me are moving into an apartment above the garage at Owen's place. We're getting it all cleaned up and ready to bring Brayleigh home, that's our daughter, I mean their daughter. Brayleigh was born a little early, they think about 35 weeks but since Clare didn't know she was pregnant they aren't quite sure. Well anyway Clare won't want to fall behind in school and Drew is going to work it out so she can keep up with student council. So we wanted to let you know the situation and see what we could do for Clare. She'll be released from the hospital tomorrow and the baby won't be home until Sunday. Clare can come to school for the rest of the week but then she'll have to be home with baby for a little while," Fitz says.

"I don't have school on Fridays, I'm supposed to have lab hours that day but I could be home with the baby so Clare can come to school. Then I can do lab hours after Clare gets home or when Fitz gets off work that day," I speak up.

"Yes well uh I will speak with all of Clare's teacher's they can probably put something together for her to keep up. She'll have all her textbooks she can keep up with the reading and of course someone can bring her homework to her each day. I'll meet with her tomorrow when she's back at school and go over it all with her it will give me time to check her course list and talk with her teachers," Simpson tells us.

"Thank you Sir," we both grin and say at the same time. We leave the office and start walking to the front doors.

"You know Brayleigh is your daughter too. You're going to be raising her with us," I tell Fitz as we leave DeGrassi.

"Thanks," Fitz grins, "I feel that way too."

We walk to our cars and wave before getting in to drive off in separate directions, I'm sure he's going to the hospital to see Clare and Brayleigh. I drive to school and have a few hours before my first class so I decide to get a couple hours of lab time in. After all my classes I get in my car and drive home I park in the driveway and find Drew, Adam, Dallas, Alli, Jenna, Connor, Tris and his friends Maya, Zig, Grace and Tiny waiting to help clean the apartment.

"I can't believe you got Clare pregnant," Alli exclaims as soon as I get out of the car.

"Hey I was perfect gentleman that night, even if I was drunk, and I had no idea she was pregnant. So is everyone here to help?"

"Yeah all of us, we want to get the apartment ready for Clare and the baby to come home," Jenna says.

"Great let's get started," I grin.

We spend a couple of hours thoroughly cleaning. We vacuum, scrub floors, counters, the entire washroom and kitchen, windows, window sills, vents everything. We make sure it's immaculate so that when Brayleigh comes home there's not a speck of dust she can breathe in.

"Sparkling clean now all it needs is furniture," Alli comments.

"Shit I didn't even think about furniture and we have nothing for Brayleigh," I exclaim.

"It looks incredible in here you kids did an amazing job how about some pizza?" Mom asks and of course everyone is starved and ready for pizza.

"Mom what about furniture and all the stuff that Brayleigh needs?"

"Well I'm not sure about Fitz but Clare must have some furniture, a dresser or a desk. The master will fit a queen bed we'll look into getting one for them. They can both sleep in the den in the house until the apartment is fully set up. As for the baby Audra and I were talking, we thought we'd have a baby shower at the house on Saturday. That will give us enough time to get the things Brayleigh will need right away set up in the nursery. Of course she should be sleeping in a bassinet in their room, and perhaps even your room some nights, until she's a few months old," Mom tells us.

"Good I'll go to the hospital after I eat and ask Clare and Fitz what if anything they have. Fitz could get his stuff tonight and sleep in the den tonight, unless he wants to sleep at the hospital," I remark.

"Sounds good, the pizza's on its way, everyone come down and washup," Mom insists.

"Mom they have no soap or towels or anything and Clare's mom basically kicked her out so she's no help. They can't live here without basics l…"

"Owen," Mom cuts me off, "relax Honey Audra and I have been talking about it. We'll make sure that they have everything they need to live here. Stop worrying and trust that we'll make sure they are taken care of."

I smile and kiss her cheek, we all go down to the house to wash up and wait for the pizza. Mom says the baby shower on Saturday will be for everyone and not just girls. After eating I thank everyone for their help before heading to the hospital to see my daughter and Clare.

 **(FITZ)**

"You sure you want to go to school today?" I ask Clare as she puts on the sweats I bought for her. She came to the hospital in a costume so she had no clothes and I got her something she could wear out of the hospital last night.

"I'm sure, I don't need to be at the hospital, Brayleigh will be well looked after in the nursery. It's going to be hard to be away from her all day but she's doing well and it's not going to do me any good to stay in the hospital longer than I have to. I need to get back to school and get out of this room for a while before I go stir crazy. Besides I'm eager to see our new apartment," she tells me coming over and gripping my jacket. She stands on her tiptoes and looping one arm around my neck captures my lips with a passionate kiss.

"It is a nice place and I can't wait to be living with you," I grin holding her waist. "If I'm going to get you home to change and to school on time then we had better get Brayleigh to the nursery," I remark reluctantly because I don't want to let Clare go.

Clare takes the bassinet and we wheel it down to the nursery, she picks up Brayleigh and hugs her tightly kissing her cheek before putting her down again. I have to pull Clare away with some force but I know she wants to go to school today. We go out to my car and I drive her to her mom's house, her mom and Glen are gone as we were hoping they would be. Clare gets dressed and as she gets dressed tells me what she wants to bring to our apartment. She gets ready for school and I take her to DeGrassi, pulling up to the steps.

"I'll be at The Dot by one and then I'll pick you up after student council and take you to our new home," I tell Clare.

"I love you Mark," she grins gripping my jacket for another fiery kiss.

"I love you Clare," I grin.

She gets out of the car and I watch her go up the steps before driving away. I go to The Dot and grab some boxes from the back and go to Clare's Mom's house, Clare gave me the key earlier. I start getting her clothes and essentials into the boxes, I pack as much as I can and take it all to the apartment. I make two car loads with as much of Clare's stuff as I can from her mom's place to our new apartment. Most of what is left is the furniture and tomorrow morning Owen's dad is going to rent a truck and the three of us and Owen will move Clare's dresser, desk and vanity. I have no furniture and few possessions so I'm able to get all my stuff from the halfway house in one car load. Owen offered for me to do it last night and sleep in the den but I wanted to be with Clare and the baby.

There's no furniture in the apartment yet but Clare and I will be sleeping in the den tonight. Mrs. Torres found us a queen mattress at an estate sale she bought for $200 and she bought us a mattress cover and is giving us an old sheet set, I also took the pillows from Clare's bed. We have her dresser and a good sized closet, Owen's grandparents are giving us a sofa. It'll be pretty sparse but we can get a dining room table and stuff later. Hopefully the baby shower on Saturday will give us all that's needed for Brayleigh.

I finish everything just before one and head to The Dot. When I get out to the front Clare is here with Drew and Dallas, they all have a spare right now and seem to be discussing student council stuff. When she sees me Clare gets up and comes over, leaning over the counter to greet me with a kiss, to which everyone in the café whistles.

"Hey Gorgeous how was school?" I ask when our lips part.

"It's been good, lots of questions about you and me and Owen and the baby. And the rumor mill is working overtime, I'm sure you'll hear some of them after school," she tells me.

"Yeah probably. You going to stay here for your spare?"

"Yeah catching up on a bit of student council business and getting a head start too," she smiles before going back to sit down.

I watch her while I work and she kisses me goodbye before leaving to get back to school. I don't see Clare again until my lunch at five, she's still at the school with Drew, Adam and Dallas all doing homework. We wave to them and I take her to our new apartment which she's seeing for the first time ever.

"Oh it's cute, it'll be perfect for the three of us," Clare grins.

"We'll get your furniture tomorrow morning and the matress too so that you and I can sleep up here. It will be all ready by the time we bring Brayleigh home."

"It's wonderful, we really must thank Delilah and Leland again for this, and Owen. I can't imagine what we'd do if we didn't have this," Clare says hugging me tightly.

"Yeah we really are blessed to have everyone's help," I agree holding onto her.

After showing her around the apartment we go to the main house and eat dinner with Owen and his family. Clare does thank them all again but Delilah tells her it's more than worth it to have their granddaughter so close. After that I have to get back to work since I close tonight.

"It's going to be hard not having you with me when I go to bed at night," Clare comments hugging me tightly as I get ready to leave.

"I know but it's a promotion, it meant more money. I'll still be home to sleep with you by 11:30 most nights and I'll get a few hours of sleep with you when I work on the weekends," I remind her.

After explaining the whole situation to my boss he offered me a promotion to assistant manager but it meant working closing shifts. It also meant a pretty big raise though which we can use so after discussing it with Clare and Owen we agreed it was the best thing to do. I know Clare and the baby will be safe here, Owen is close and he can be up here with them, or Clare and the baby can be at the house until it's time for them to go to bed. I was able to take a two hour lunch today so I could bring Clare home and have dinner with everyone, it meant starting an hour earlier but I was okay with that.

"I love you Mark," she says taking my lips and kissing me with loving passion.

"I love you too Clare, more than anything in this world."

I kiss her goodbye again and get back in my car returning to The Dot and looking forward to my first night with Clare in our new home. Well sort of in our new home, in the den of the Milligan's house but still we'll be together.

 **(CLARE)**

"Everything looks wonderful," I grin coming into the living room of the main house where the baby shower is going to be today. "Delilah I really want to thank you again for everything, you and Leland have been so wonderful, welcoming and generous to a girl you didn't even know," I say hugging her.

"Brayleigh is our granddaughter and Owen her father, and we've known Fitz a long time. All we needed to know about you is that you brought granddaughter into this world and we are happy to have you and Fitz here," she tells me with a genuine smile that is welcoming and kind.

"Everything's pink," Owen complains coming out of his room and looking at the decorations.

"Because you had a girl," his mom reminds him.

"Where's Fitz?" Owen asks taking a deviled egg off the serving tray.

"He didn't get home until three this morning so I let him sleep in. He was just getting into the shower when I left but he'll down shortly," I reply. Mark had his first weekend closing shift last night and he was exhausted when he got home.

Tris and Leland come downstairs just as the doorbell rings. The first guests to arrive, not so surprisingly, are the Torres clan which of course includes Dallas, as well as Bianca today. Mark comes down shortly after they arrive, then Alli and Jenna arrive. Connor, Mr. Simpson and his wife, their son Jack was invited but opted to spend time with friends rather than at a baby shower with people he doesn't know which is understandable. Maya, Zig, Grace and Tiny are next to arrive and that's everyone. There's food and conversation and then presents.

Delilah put the word out to all of their relatives that Owen had been surprised by being a new father and now needed everything for a baby. His family sent gifts or money or bought things for us online and had it shipped to the house. Mark also told our church, which I will be attending with him now that Mom has disowned me, and they were very generous with donations of used baby clothes, blankets and some cash to buy things we'll need. Jake and Darcy also sent gifts this way, they've both been told and while surprised were supportive if not happy. I've still heard nothing from my mom or even Glen however.

By the end of the party I know Brayleigh will want for nothing, we have a crib and two bassinets so that Brayleigh can sleep in Owen's room some nights. We also got two high chairs, one for the apartment and one for the house. We have a lot of baby clothes, most of which are used but I don't care. We have a baby swing, a changing table, crib, diapers, baby powder, a baby bath, bottles formula, toys, everything Brayleigh will need or we need to take care of her. We even got three car seats, one for Mark's car, one for Owen's and a spare for Delilah and Leland to use or for me to put in my car if I get one. We thank everyone for the gifts, Audra made sure to make a list of what gifts we got and from who so I can do Thank-You Cards.

"There's so much stuff, how can one little person need so much," I comment looking at all the stuff after most of the guests have left but the Torres family is still here.

"The younger you are and the older you are the more stuff you need," Leland says and I laugh.

"We should get most of this upstairs," Owen comments looking at everything.

Owen and Mark take the box with the crib, Drew and Dallas get the changing table up to the apartment. The rest of the stuff takes one more trip with everyone taking a load. Leland shows Owen how to build the crib, Omar shows Mark how to build the changing table while Drew and Adam put the swing together with help from Dallas who's done this all before. Audra, Delilah, Tris and I get all the baby clothes into the closet. We don't have a dresser for her however, Delilah got some hanging closet organizers, generally used for shoes but they work perfectly fine for baby clothes and blankets. It's dinner time by the time we're done so we go downstairs and eat more of the food left from the baby shower. I thank Leland and Delilah for everything and I thank the Torres family for all their help and everything they've done.

"I was going to head to the hospital to see Brayleigh and say goodnight if you guys want to come," Owen offers.

"Yes I want to see her," I reply.

I went this morning while Mark was still sleeping but I still want to see her again. We say goodbye to everyone and head to the hospital, Brayleigh is in the nursery but they bring her out to us. We all hold her for a few minutes and say goodnight. The nurse tells me that they'll have her ready to go by nine tomorrow morning and we say we'll be here promptly at nine. Reluctantly we leave Brayleigh and go home. I've been doing this all week, getting up early to see her before school and coming with Mark to see her, then coming after dinner with Owen because Mark is closing. Thankfully Mark managed to get Saturday off this weekend and doesn't go into work until 2:30 tomorrow afternoon so he'll be there to welcome Brayleigh home.

Mark and I shower together before going to bed and dreaming about bringing Brayleigh home tomorrow. I wake up early and make sure everything is perfect, even picking out the outfit for Brayleigh to come home in. We go to the hospital with Owen in his car and practically run to the nursery to pick up our daughter.

"Good morning parents, she's all ready and eager to get home," the nurse tells us handing Brayleigh to me. "She's healthy but you shouldn't take her out too much or expose her to too many new people for the first couple of weeks. Keep her away from anyone showing any signs of being sick her immune system is still developing. Schedule an appointment with your pediatrician for two weeks from now."

We thank her and leave with our daughter, I sit in back with her while Owen drives and Mark sits in the passenger seat. When we get home we go into the house first, Brayleigh is hungry so Delilah feeds her while the rest of us eat breakfast. We spend some time at the house with everyone but before Mark needs to get to work we take Brayleigh up to the apartment and Owen comes with us. We take her into her room to show her everything, not that she can truly see it all right now. I hold her in my arms with Mark on one side of me and Owen on the other. I look our daughter and then look at each of them.

"You know I think we can do this, the three of us together," I comment.

"Of course we can," Owen grins.

 **The next chapter, which will be going up shortly, will also be the last for this story.**


	7. When My World Turned Upside Down

**As promised here is chapter 7, also the last chapter for this story. It's also pretty long.**

 **Ch. 7 When My World Turned Upside Down**

 **(CLARE)**

I wake up to Brayleigh screaming because she's hungry and I groan, it's not even five. It's Christmas morning but I know she can't be excited about her presents she doesn't even know what Christmas is about.

"I got her," Mark says with a yawn getting out of bed. "It's okay Lee-Lee," Mark coos picking her up from her bassinet and calling her by the nickname he coined for her. Her first night home she began crying when he got home from work and he picked her up and called her Lee-Lee and it stuck. He bounces her on his knee and lets her suck on his thumb while he heats her bottle. When it's warm he cradles her in his arm and feeds her.

I'm awake now and I sit up watching him feed her. Brayleigh is six weeks and five days old today, she's a healthy, happy and bright baby that's very loved. She's fascinated by her fingers and she brightens whenever she hears my voice or Owen's or Mark's because she knows who we are now.

"I know she was a surprise but you are a great father," I tell Mark snapping a picture of him feeding her with my phone. Mark just looks back at me and smiles, after he feeds her, burps her and changes her he sets her on the bed between us. "Merry Christmas Mark," I smile capturing his lips while I rub Brayleigh's belly. Mark and I stay locked in the kiss until she kicks us and we look at her.

Since we're up and won't be getting back to sleep we take turns showering and getting dressed. We're going down to the house to have Christmas with Owen, Delilah, Leland and Tris. They're expecting us at nine for breakfast and then presents so we have a little while before we have to go down. We spend the morning playing with Lee-Lee and getting dressed slowly, finally going down to the main house just before nine. We greet everyone before sitting down to eat. Brayleigh can't eat what we are and we just fed her but we put her in her carrier and let her watch the Christmas lights on the tree, that keeps her fascinated until we're done with breakfast.

We sit down to open presents, most of them are for Brayleigh of course. Owen's family sent some and surprisingly my father sent a couple for her, Jake and Darcy each sent one for Brayleigh, and I still haven't heard from my mom or Glen. Mark and I couldn't afford much but we managed to get Delilah, Leland and Tris a little something. Owen told us not to get him anything he's happy just having Brayleigh and us with him. After presents Mark and I leave for the late church service, we leave Brayleigh with them because she's too young for church. The service is beautiful and we return to the house late in the afternoon.

"How was the service?" Owen asks handing Brayleigh to me.

"It was wonderful how was she?"

"She was wonderful too, spent the morning playing with new toys or just watching the tree. She needs to be changed though, I was just about to do that when you came back," Owen tells me.

"I'll come with you," I tell him following Owen back to his room.

Owen puts out the portable changing pad he keeps here. He gets out the wipes and a fresh diaper and I lie Brayleigh down. Owen takes off her tights and lifts her dress to take off the diaper. How one little body can make so much stinky poop is beyond me but Owen cleans it up without a complainant.

In the last six weeks Owen and I have become quite close, it would be hard not to sharing a baby and living a couple hundred feet apart. We're on break now but I had been staying home with Brayleigh doing school work while she slept, and also sleeping when she did. Mark was with me for the mornings but he would often sleep until ten, or later after closing Friday or Saturday nights when he often wouldn't get home until 3am. Mark would watch Brayleigh for a while before he went to work usually. On Mondays and Wednesdays Owen would come home and take me to DeGrassi so I could participate in student council. Tuesdays and Thursdays I would video chat in for the meeting and Fridays Owen was home and he and Mark would watch Brayleigh so I could go to school. With Mark working nearly every night Owen would often come up to the apartment to watch Brayleigh while I did homework, and we would eat with his family most nights. All that time together has brought us close, there are still feelings between us, we just don't talk about them or act on them but remain close friends.

"Okay all clean Lee-Lee, Mommy will take you back to the party," Owen says handing her to me while he goes to the washroom to wash his hands.

I go back to the living room and put Brayleigh on a blanket near the tree on her stomach. I sit on one side of her and when Owen comes out of the washroom he sits on the other side of her. When it's time for dinner we put her in her carrier on the sofa where she can see the tree and we can watch her. She falls asleep while we're eating dinner, after dinner we help clean up.

"She's already asleep and I have all her stuff down here why don't you let me take her tonight so you two can have a night alone," Owen offers.

"Thanks that would be great," I grin.

"Yeah thanks Owen," Mark smiles. I kiss Brayleigh goodnight and we put on our coats to go back to our apartment. Mark closes the door and picks me up carrying me to the bed. "How do you feel? Are you ready to make love again?" Mark asks.

"Absolutely," I grin smashing my lips to Mark's.

 **(FITZ)**

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH" Brayleigh cries and I jolt awake.

"Sorry, I'll get her," Clare says sitting up to get Brayleigh from her bassinet. I look at the clock, it's just after five on Saturday, January 3rd and I only got in a couple of hours ago from work.

Clare crawls to the end of the bed, gets Brayleigh from her bassinet and goes out to the kitchen to make the bottle. I can still hear her crying and hear Clare trying to make the bottle and soothe Brayleigh at the same time. Brayleigh is getting angry and Clare is tired and frustrated.

"I got her," I yawn getting out of bed, "come here Lee-Lee let Mommy make your bottle."

I take her from Clare and go back to the bed, I put Lee-Lee on the bed on her back and lie on my side. She's so small I can rub her belly and let her suck on my finger at the same time. It soothes her until Clare comes back to the bed with the bottle.

"I'll take her down to the house," Clare says slipping on her robe as she sets the bottle on the nightstand. I take the bottle and start feeding Brayleigh.

"You're going down in your robe?" I question.

"You're not worried that Owen will see me in my robe are you? You know we're just friends," she says to me in a scolding tone.

"It's January and it's freezing," I reply.

"I'll put my coat on over the robe and bundle her in both, you need to sleep Mark," Clare replies putting her thick winter coat on over her robe.

"Okay, be careful on those stairs," I yawn as she takes Brayleigh.

I hear them leave and I fall asleep again within a few minutes. When I wake up it's after noon but I have a closing shift of course so I don't even go in until 5:30. I yawn and stretch, use the washroom and shower before texting Clare that I'm awake. She asks me to bring her down some clothes. I shake my head because she didn't get dressed before going down to the house. I get dressed and grab some sweats, a t-shirt, socks and shoes for Clare then I go down to the house. They gave us each a key to the main house when we moved into the apartment, and each of them has a key to the apartment but if we're home they always knock. Owen is playing with Brayleigh on the living room floor and Clare is watching TV on the sofa.

"You could have gotten dressed before leaving," I comment to Clare as I hand her the clothes.

"You were trying to sleep," Clare retorts taking the clothes and going down the hall to change.

"You still look pretty tired, you've got like five more hours before you need to go in are you sure you don't want to go back to sleep?" Owen asks.

"No I'm awake now, these closing shifts can be pretty rough, especially the weekends we almost never close the club on time because people won't leave," I yawn.

"We should go back to the apartment," Clare remarks.

"You guys go ahead, I have nothing to do today, just some homework later. But I'll watch Lee-Lee for now, she likes playing with Daddy don't you Lee-Lee," Owen coos at her.

"Thanks Owen, we do need to clean and go grocery shopping," Clare says.

"Fun filled afternoon," I respond sarcastically and Clare shoots me a look. "I'm kidding, I enjoy anything I do with you even chores," I grin before I kiss her.

"I'll come get her in a couple hours," Clare tells Owen.

"Take your time," he replies.

I put my arm around Clare and we go back to the apartment, dividing up the chores of cleaning the kitchen, the washroom, vacuuming and dusting. When we finish we shower and change before going grocery shopping. We almost always eat dinner at the main house with them, well I do when I'm not working and Clare and the baby do most nights but we still need groceries for everything else, and the occasional dinners we do eat here. It isn't much but it's time spent with Clare and I treasure it. We get back with enough time to relax for a bit before I head to work.

"It's Saturday we probably won't be able to close right at two," I tell Clare right before I leave.

"I know, just be careful," Clare tells me.

"Promise," I grin turning to give her a gentle kiss.

I finish getting ready and kiss Clare again before I leave. It's starting to snow again and it takes a little while to drive to work. The Dot is packed as usual and it stays pretty busy, I help out until I need to get the club ready to open. I put Chris on the door and work the bar, there's a line on the stairs before the club even opens. It's busy and hectic all night, we finally clear the last customers out just before 2:30 in the morning and we still have to clean the club. I go down to make sure that the café is clean and the cash box is locked up and everything that's my duty as assistant manager. When I'm sure that everything is locked away and closed up I go back to the club to help clean up and close up, the club won't be used again until next Friday night.

"I'm going to lock up the cash and then we'll go," I tell Chris.

"Cool," he replies.

When it's this late we always walk out in pairs because it's safer. I lock the cash boxes and we turn off the lights, I lock the door and we go down to our cars together. I turn my car on and look at the clock, it's 3:18 in the morning and I'm exhausted. I start driving home, it's only a few miles but the snow is falling, the streets are quiet and my eyes begin to close. I feel the car drifting and I open my eyes, I try rolling down the window to stay awake but it's freezing and snow is coming in. I close the window and turn on the radio but after a moment my eyes begin to feel very heavy again.

 **(CLARE)**

I wake up with a jolt, no reason for the sudden wake up Brayleigh is sound asleep and I wasn't having a nightmare. I look at the clock and see that it's after four, Mark should be home now but his side of the bed is empty. I get up and go out to the living room but it's dark, he's not home. I go back to the bedroom and get my cell phone. I call Mark but he doesn't answer.

"Mark where are you it's late and I'm worried," I say to his voicemail and hang up.

I call The Dot and the club but they are long closed and all I get is the message saying to call back during business hours. I would text Mark but if he's driving he can't reply. I call his phone two more times but there's still no answer so I call Owen.

"Clare?" Owen yawns. "What's wrong is Brayleigh okay?"

"Can you come to the apartment Mark isn't home and I'm worried," I tell him trying not to cry.

"I'll be right up," Owen tells me before hanging up. I don't need to unlock the door because Owen has a key but I do anyway. I pace our small living room for a couple minutes before Owen comes through the door. I'm getting extremely anxious and worried, as soon as Owen is through the door I embrace him and take some comfort when he embraces me back. "Is Brayleigh still asleep?"

"Yes, I didn't want to wake her. Thanks for coming I didn't want to wait alone."

"Of course," Owen replies giving me a reassuring smile.

"I've tried calling but he doesn't answer, I left a voicemail. He's never this late and I don't know what else to do."

"I'll call the police station and the hospitals. Do you want to be out here with me or in with Lee-Lee?" Owen asks.

"Here, I need to know and I'll hear her if she cries," I reply.

Owen sits me down on the sofa and uses his phone to get the non-emergency number for the closest police station. He asks them if Mark Fitzgerald was arrested but when Owen shakes his head I'm relieved that at least Mark wasn't arrested. Next Owen calls the closest hospital to us which is Toronto Western. Again he shakes his head and I breathe a sigh of relief but if Mark isn't there where is he, Owen makes another phone call and I realize he's called another hospital.

"Has a Mark Fitzgerald been brought in as a patient?" Owen asks and when I see his face change my heart stops. "He has? Yes we are we'll be right down," Owen tells me and hangs up.

"He's in the hospital," I say with a trembling voice. My whole body begins to shake as I fear the possibilities.

"There's been an accident, he was brought in by ambulance and he's in the ICU in critical condition at St. Michael's trauma center," Owen inform me and I collapse. I feel like my life is draining away. "Get dressed, I'm going to run down to the house for a second and I'll be right back. I'll help you get Brayleigh ready and we'll go down to the hospital," Owen says helping me up from the sofa.

I nod and get up but my legs shake as I walk into the bedroom. I stop in the doorway, hearing Owen running down the steps. I have to pull it together as much as I can for Brayleigh's sake, if I'm upset she'll know. I take a deep breath determined to hold it together, turning on the bedside light to get dressed I manage not to wake Brayleigh. It occurs to me that when she does wake up she'll probably be hungry. I throw on jeans and a t-shirt, sneakers and one of Mark's hoodies because it's comforting. I put my jacket by the door with my purse and grab Brayleigh's diaper bag, I make sure it has plenty of diapers, put in some formula and bottles, make sure there are plenty of wipes and a couple of changes of clothes because I don't know how long we'll be at the hospital.

Owen returns and picks up Brayleigh with her blanket, she's a little fussy as we bundle her in warm clothes but once we're in the car she falls asleep again. Owen drives and I keep looking back at Brayleigh hoping that Mark is alright and wondering what I'll do if he's not. Owen parks at the hospital and he gets Brayleigh out of the car seat, she fusses a little before nuzzling into Owen's shoulder and falling asleep again. I reach over and take Owen's hand as we walk into the hospital and he squeezes back gently.

"Mark Fitzgerald," I say to the nurse but my voice trembles so badly I'm not sure it was audible.

"I called a little while ago, I was told he was brought in by ambulance and was in the ICU after an accident," Owen tells the nurse at the ER reception desk.

"Yes one moment please," the nurse replies. She picks up a phone and tells someone that we're here for Mark Fitzgerald. "Dr. Clay will be down in a moment to speak with you," she tells us after hanging up the phone. I only want to know what happened to Mark and it feels like a very long time before a doctor approaches us. A woman in her fifties with long dark hair she has pulled into a bun, her hair is starting to gray at the sides, she's slender but with a round face.

"I'm Dr. Amelia Clay I'm glad you're here we've been trying to find his next of kin," she tells us and my stomach sinks. I know that can't be a good sign.

"I guess that would be me, I'm his live-in girlfriend but he doesn't have any contact with his mom any longer. Is he still alive?" I question but the words barely make it from my lips.

"Yes but we don't know for how long, the police said he was in a head on collision. The other driver was drunk but escaped with fairly minor injuries. They think that Mark may have fallen asleep at the wheel as well, his car skidded and turned on the driver's side. His injuries are fatal, we've done what we can but he's bleeding out internally. His liver was torn, his lung collapsed, several of his internal organs crushed. I'm sorry but there is nothing we can do now but make him comfortable. I'll take you up to him," she tells us and I nod.

I'm just in shock, if Owen wasn't pulling my hand I don't think I'd be moving. I'm like a zombie until we get into Mark's room. Outside of the room the doctor tells us something else but I don't even hear her, I feel like I'm drowning and everyone else is above water. The sight that greets my eyes when the door to his hospital room opens is the most horrifying scene I've ever been witness too. The beautiful face of the man I love is swollen, broken and bloody, it looks like he was cut by glass, his head has a bandage around it. He's mostly covered by the blanket but his arms, aside from being the wrong color and a little swollen, seem relatively unscathed although they would have been protected by his thick winter coat. Apparently it was not enough to protect his most vital organs though. They're giving him blood and something else through an IV, pain killers I would imagine. Even though they're giving him blood and oxygen he looks gray, he doesn't even really look alive and even from here I can see that his belly is swollen and I know it's swollen by blood.

Seeing him like this I breakdown, turning into Owen I begin to sob uncontrollably. Owen holds me tightly with one arm, holding Brayleigh with the other. Mark is going to die and there's nothing anyone can do, he's unconscious and probably won't wake up I won't even get to say goodbye. Hearing me cry Brayleigh begins to wail, either angry at being woken up or knowing that something is wrong.

"Lee-Lee?" Mark asks weakly. I pick my head up getting out of Owen's arm and run to Mark's side. I take his hand very gently and squeeze it kissing his cheek.

"Mark?"

"Clare?" He asks and then starts coughing and it's heartbreaking.

"It's me, we're all here. Me, Owen and Lee-Lee, we're all here," I say with tears rolling down my face. Mark tries to open his eyes but he can't quite manage.

"Lee-Lee?" He asks again weakly and she's still crying.

"Right here Buddy," Owen says walking over. He carefully moves Mark's arm and sets Brayleigh in the space between Mark's arm and his body. Mark is barely able to move his arm but he holds her and Brayleigh stops crying. Owen pulls a chair up and sits on that side of the bed, both to be with Mark and to be there in case Brayleigh starts crying again.

"Mark I…" I begin and then stop. I feel like there's so much to tell him but I don't know where to begin. "I love you so much," it's all I can get out before I'm crying too hard to continue.

"I'm s…sorry," he chokes out before he starts coughing again. All I can do is cry, he's dying I'm losing him and I don't want to lose him, I love him. "Owen," Mark speaks and Owen puts his hand on Mark's arm.

"I'm here Buddy," Owen assures him.

"Take…" Mark begins and then starts coughing again, "take care of Lee-Lee," Mark pauses yet again for a struggling breath, "and Clare. I know," another pause for a struggling breath, "you love them like," Mark pauses to cough and a struggling breath, his voice and words are getting weaker, "I do. I want you two," Mark pauses again, this time it's a wheezing breath and I know he doesn't have long, "to be happy together." Mark wheezes, he's barely breathing, his face contorts.

"Mark I love you, Lee-Lee loves you so much," I sob.

"I love," he wheezes again his words hardly a whisper as they leave his lips, "you both."

Blip…blip…blip…bleeeeeeeeeeee his heart monitor slows and then stops, his body goes limp and the life of the man I love is gone. I feel a piece of me die with him and my head falls onto the bed, my hand grips Mark's tightly.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO," I scream and pound my fist into the bed.

Brayleigh begins wailing again, Owen picks her up and comes over putting a hand on my back as I hear other people running into the room. I can feel Owen's hand on my back, I hear Brayleigh crying but everything else seems to be far off like I'm in this bubble. This bubble where Mark, the man I love, the one I was sure I was going to spend the rest of my life with, is dead and he told me he loved me on his last breath.

 **(OWEN)**

"The car is coming," I tell Clare peeking into the den.

"I just need to," she stops and looks at her outfit and then feels her hair, "brush my hair."

"I'll do it," I tell her.

She kind of nods but doesn't move other than that so I go into the washroom and get her hairbrush. It's Saturday and Fitz's funeral is today, he passed very early last Sunday morning, Clare's been basically walking comatose ever since she first heard he was in an accident. The police are still investigating if the accident was the cause of the drunk driver or if it was Fitz falling asleep at the wheel, which they haven't even proven. Neither Clare nor I have been to school this week, of course the schools were informed of Fitz's death so, as the school's put it, "concessions are made for students in special circumstances like these". Drew, Dallas, Adam, Alli, Jenna, Connor, Maya, Zig, Tiny and Grace have all been over to the house to see us and help out. When I managed to get Clare out of the hospital after Fitz died I brought them to the house and they've been staying here since. Clare's hardly done anything but cry, she does want to hold Brayleigh a lot but me and my parents have been taking care of Brayleigh.

"You must think I'm losing it," Clare comments as I begin brushing her hair. "I've hardly gotten out of bed, I can do nothing but cry and all for a man that I've been in love with for half a year."

"I don't think you're losing it. I know how much you love Fitz and losing him so suddenly and tragically was devastating. It's only been a few days Clare but I know you and I know you're strong and stubborn, and an incredible mom, I know that you won't be like this forever. I also know how hard this has been on you, so you take as much time as you need. Brayleigh is well taken care of," I assure her. She stops me from brushing her hair a moment and turns around wrapping her arms around me and putting her head on my chest.

"Thank you Owen. I couldn't do this without you and Brayleigh needs you now more than ever."

I smooth her hair and kiss the top of her head because I don't know what to say. I want to say that I love her and would do anything for her, I want to take care of her and will always be there for her and Brayleigh. But I say nothing, partly because I don't think she's ready to hear it so soon after Fitz's death, and partly because I know that she already knows all that.

"There you look beautiful," I tell her setting down the hairbrush.

"The car is here," Tris calls.

"I still can't believe he's gone," she whispers.

"I know me either," I reply softly taking her hand and bringing her out to the living room.

My parents got a town car to take Brayleigh, Clare and I to the church. My parents and Tris will be driving in Dad's car but they didn't want me or Clare driving. The funeral is at Fitz and Clare's church, with a gathering at our house afterwards.

When we come out Mom is getting Brayleigh's car seat into the car and Tris is holding Brayleigh. Once she's secured in her car seat in the middle seat Clare and I get in. When Clare is sitting and the car starts driving she starts stroking Brayleigh's cheek. When the car parks at the church I get Brayleigh and Dad comes around helping Clare out of the car. We walk into the church, Fitz's casket is at the front with a bunch of flowers, we thought closed casket would be best. With Clare's recent state my parents have been handling most of the arrangements. Fitz had a life insurance that included burial, he got it right after Brayleigh was born, and that's paying for most of the funeral, The Dot contributed some and so did the church patrons.

"It's beautiful Mark would have loved this," Clare says quietly.

"Clare, we have all be praying for you and your family," the pastor says embracing Clare's hands. Clare nods but doesn't say anything, he smiles at her sympathetically before my parents begin speaking with him.

"Do you want to sit down?" I ask Clare and she nods again.

I put my arm around her shoulders bringing her and Brayleigh to the seats in the front. I sit down on the end with Brayleigh on my lap, thankfully our daughter is asleep and has no idea what's going on.

People begin to arrive, The Torres family first with Bianca and of course Dallas. They all come over to hug us and tell us how sorry they are. Alli, Jenna, Connor, Simpson, his wife, Spinner and Emma are all here. A lot of people that must go to this church, because I don't recognize them, come in. Surprisingly Johnny, Lucas and Bruce are all here, they haven't spoken to Fitz in years I wonder how they heard but it's good that they're here. The church fills up and the pastor begins the service, he starts with a prayer, the choir even came in to sing Fitz's favorite praise song. Clare is too upset to speak but I decided I wanted to say a few words so I get up and stand in front of the casket.

"Mark Fitzgerald was one of my oldest and best friends. He came from a home and family that didn't love him but he found a girl who loved him and a family of his own. A family that included me after our daughter Brayleigh was born. Even though for most of his life most people knew him as a bully a few of us lucky ones," I say and look at Bianca who shares a smiles with me, "saw his true colors. We already knew he was strong, loyal, brave and protective. It took a few months in juvie, the kindness of the girl he was going to fall in love with and finding God for the rest of the world to see these things in him. He was my friend, my brother, second father to my daughter, a great friend and the world is a little darker without his light."

"That was gorgeous Owen," Clare whispers taking my hand when I sit down again. "He knew you feel that way about him, Mark felt the same about you," she tells me and I smile a little.

A couple more people speak, people from the church, and then it's open for anyone to speak. Johnny gets up and talks about how loyal Fitz was and how good of a friend, and how proud Johnny was when he'd heard Fitz had turned his life around. The choir sings again as Fitz's casket is prepared to go out to the burial site. We go back to the cars following the hearse to the cemetery. They already have it ready with a few chairs set up. We get out of the car and I take Clare and Brayleigh down to the chairs, we sit and wait for everyone to gather. The priest reads another prayer as the casket is lowered and then people drop flowers onto the casket. Mom takes Brayleigh and I pull Clare up by her hands and we both drop flowers onto the casket.

Clare already looks exhausted but I take her back to the car and it takes us home. When we arrive at the house Brayleigh is fussing, she did it a couple times during the service but a couple of the church ladies took her out to be fed or whatever she needed. She seems to be hungry so Mom takes Brayleigh to feed her and I get Clare inside.

"You should eat too, I'll make you a plate," I tell Clare.

"I'm not that hungry but I know I need to eat," she says.

"Yes you do," I reply.

Dad, Tris and Audra are getting out the food that was bought for the gathering of course much more is being brought by some of the people from Fitz and Clare's church. And naturally The Dot donated a lot of food. I make Clare a plate and bring it to her, she eats slowly and lasts about three hours with people talking to her and telling her how sorry they are for her loss. I think the worst is probably the people who offer her, or me, advice about how to get on with our lives or how we should raise Brayleigh now. After about three hours I know Clare has had more than enough of this, she's drained and exhausted.

"Come on you should lie down, you can do it in my room," I offer since the den is right off the living room and she won't be able to rest there. I'm also sure that she won't want to go back up to the apartment.

"I am tired but…" she begins to argue and I cut her off.

"No one will mind, everyone will understand," I assert taking her hand and bringing her to my room.

"Owen," she says sitting on my bed and taking off her shoes, "you should move into the apartment with us."

"Are you ready for that?" I question while she lies down and makes herself comfortable on my bed.

"Not a relationship just as friends but I need you and so does Brayleigh."

"Then I'll move in tomorrow," I tell her and she smiles a little as I cover her with a blanket.

I leave her to sleep and go to find my daughter and hold her tight.

 ******EPILOGUE******

 **(CLARE)**

"WAAAAAAAAGH."

"I got it," Owen tells me as I get my necklace on.

"it's alright Buddy," Owen says picking the baby up from the carrier.

"He can't be hungry again, he just ate an hour ago," I comment.

"Of course he can he's my son," Owen grins. "Are you hungry again Mark? I think you are, you don't need to be changed. Mommy's a little busy right now I'll have to make you a bottle."

"Mommy I can't put my necklace on," Brayleigh says coming out of the washroom.

"I'll do it for you Lee-Lee," I tell her. She stands in front of me and holds up her long black hair so I can fasten her locket.

It's been six and a half years since that terrible day when we lost Mark. Brayleigh will be seven on November 1st, she's a bright young girl with my eyes and Owen's hair. She has the best of both of us, and some of the worst too.

Owen moved into the apartment that day, at first he slept in the living room but eventually he slept in the bedroom with me. We shared so many moments together over the years and we fell in love. After graduating DeGrassi I attended Ryerson and two years ago, the night before I graduated Ryerson with a degree in journalism Owen proposed. Two months ago today we had a son, as soon as we knew we were having a son we knew his name would be Mark, he wasn't a surprise I knew I was pregnant and he wasn't born early. Owen is twice a proud dad, Brayleigh loves being a big sister and I am very proud of my family whom I love very much.

Owen has a successful career as an assistant coach at U of T and I am a syndicated journalist and a moderately successful author. We have a nice house in Toronto a few miles from Leland and Delilah who babysit often and love their grandchildren like crazy. They were thrilled when we got married and thrilled to be grandparents again. My dad is also a proud grandpa, he moved to Alberta but we see him about once a year and he stays in contact. Mom and Glen got divorced, I tried to reconcile with her but she stubbornly refused any contact and neither Darcy nor I have heard from her in years, I know she moved from Toronto though. I do speak with Darcy, she's in Guatemala now but she tries to come home every couple of years. I even still speak to Jake not too often but we do stay in contact. Owen and I are also still in contact with the Torres boys whom we see often as they live in town, as well as Bianca as she's married to Drew. I'm still in touch with Alli and we see Dallas every so often when he's in Guelph to see his parents.

Over the years the pain of Mark's loss has diminished but it has never vanished. There are moments when I miss him greatly and the pain comes back as if it happened yesterday. January 4th is always a difficult day but Owen has never made it harder, he understands and he's always supportive. It's one of the many reasons I fell so deeply in love with him.

"It matches yours Mommy," Brayleigh grins holding her locket next to mine.

"Yes it does, you look very grown up," I grin.

Both lockets were a gift from Owen, he gave me mine on my birthday, my eighteenth birthday which was celebrated five weeks after Mark's passing. The ornately decorated silver locket holds a picture of Mark, he's smiling and it's a beautiful picture. Owen told me Mark would always be close to my heart that way. Brayleigh's locket, a slightly smaller version of mine, holds the same picture and Owen gave it to her last week when she graduated from kindergarten.

Brayleigh was only two months old when Mark died and she doesn't remember him but in her heart she knows him. There are lots of pictures of Mark holding her, feeding her, bathing her and playing with her and Brayleigh has seen them all. I would look through that album at least once day for the first six months after Mark died and then when she was old enough she started looking through it on her own. We of course told her everything about Mark and how much he loved her, when she was about three she began calling Mark Angel Daddy and that's how she thinks of him.

"Will Angel Daddy be at Uncle Tristan's graduation?" Brayleigh asks looking at the picture in her locket.

"Yes he will," I smile kissing Brayleigh's cheek.

"Owen you'd better give Mark to me so you can finish getting ready. It isn't every day your little brother graduates from college," I tell him after checking my makeup in the mirror.

"Yeah but he's a drama major," Owen remarks rolling his eyes.

"You know you're proud of him," I laugh.

"Yeah I am," he grins giving Mark to me and stealing a kiss.

I finish feeding Mark and Owen finishes getting ready. Tris went to UCLA so we flew to Los Angeles with his parents and we're staying in the same hotel. They rented a van and we all go to the graduation together. We find seats and I hold Mark in my lap, he fell asleep in the car which is probably good. Brayleigh gets antsy waiting for the graduation but Owen entertains her.

Finally the ceremony starts, as I watch the graduates take the stage I can't help holding my locket, looking at my family, and watching my brother-in-law take his diploma. I think about the past and envision the future, and although he's gone I know Mark is still with us. I know he's watching us, proud of us and happy for us, and I know he loves us all.

 **Hope you enjoyed this story nothing will replace this as per the new short story system I'm going down to three revolving short stories. Being posted next is** _ **A Beautiful Night's Kiss**_ **flirty Clew fluff.**


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